Geneva and Lausanne, Switzerland (TSR, Fre) – Swiss will be doubling the capacity and also the speed of its Internet connection lines in coming months, and enlarging its mobile phone base by 20 percent, it has told TSR. The combination should create a major improvement in mobile phone service, particularly Internet via mobile phone. A longer term project will take two years but should provide regular wifi service in CFF double-decker and Intercity trains, where reception is currently patchy.

For the first part of the project, several million francs are currently being invested to answer what the Swiss television station  says are complaints of poor mobile connections between Geneva and Bern, notably between Geneva and Lausanne. Swisscom says poor reception is due to a mix of factors, from topography to shopping centres and two main transport lines that are regularly saturated – the autoroute and the rail lines.

The second part of the system upgrade will cost “dozens of millions” of francs, according to TSR, and involves fully equipping 1,200 CFF train cars. Newer trains starting in 2014 will come equipped for wifi.