LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM -- (Marketwire) -- 02/06/13 -- East Midlands Trains, part of the Stagecoach Group, has announced it will be offering free WiFi for rail passengers across 30 of its stations including major hubs such as Nottingham, Sheffield, Derby and Leicester.

The deal with WiFi provider The Cloud will let customers access the internet via a dedicated, branded landing page where they will log-in and be able to browse the web, use social networks like Facebook and Twitter, and ultimately improve their travel experience. The service will be launched in 2013.

Recent research highlights the continued growth of mobile phones, with 85% of people using the internet on the go.(i) East Midlands Trains is adapting to this by ensuring its customers' mobile needs are catered for. WiFi users will be directed to The Cloud Content Portal that includes a unique combination of the latest Sky News, Sky Sports News and live travel updates as well as access to the broader internet. The content portal also carries advertising space, giving brands a unique opportunity for location-based video advertising targeting commuters and other visitors during specific times of the day.

Vince Russell, MD at The Cloud, explains: "Rail stations are no longer just thoroughfares. With shops, cafes, bars and restaurants located at various stations now, East Midlands Trains customers are spending longer at each location and it's vital they have the best possible mobile data service while they're there.

"More and more people own devices such as tablets and they want to be able to use them without having to worry about network congestion, patchy coverage or exceeding their data limits, which is where our WiFi service comes in. It provides passengers with fast, reliable, free internet access allied with unique engaging content."

East Midlands Trains provides fast and frequent trains from major cities and towns in South Yorkshire, the East Midlands and Northamptonshire and instant access to travel information is vital to its customers.

Neil Micklethwaite, Customer Service & Commercial Director at East Midlands Trains, said: "We already offer WiFi on our trains and in our first class lounges at stations. Now with The Cloud in place we will complete the WiFi package by adding all other areas to the mix, from platforms to retail and food & beverage venues. The Content Portal will be a particularly useful tool for customers as it provides a one-stop-shop of information, including London Underground travel updates - something that should be especially beneficial to those commuting in and out of the capital.

"This deal is all part of our GBP 10 million investment project which aims to improve the customer experience at all of our stations. Adapting to the mobile boom by providing free WiFi to our customers is a key element of this."

An estimated five million people every day pass through The Cloud network by visiting one of its partners, including major outlets like PizzaExpress, Caffe Nero, WH Smith, Eat, Greggs, Pret A Manger and Wagamama.

(i) Research from Our Mobile Planet, May 2012

Notes to Editors

For media enquiries, please contact East Midlands Trains on 01738 442111. Out of office hours: An on-call service operates for urgent media enquiries out of hours. To access this service, please call 08448 222888 and quote MEDIA1. Please leave a short message, including your name, media organisation, phone number and the nature of your enquiry. The on call press officer will then return your call.

East Midlands Trains

- East Midlands Trains, part of the Stagecoach Group, runs fast, frequent trains from and to London St Pancras International and key UK destinations throughout the East Midlands, including Leicester, Derby, Sheffield, Nottingham, Manchester and Liverpool.

- East Midlands Trains is currently investing over GBP 40 million to improve stations across its network and every single passenger train within its fleet.

- East Midlands Trains is committed to offering great value fares. Use the Best Fare Finder to search for cheap train tickets and book cheap train tickets to London and on more than 400 routes across the UK.

Stagecoach Group

- Stagecoach Group is a leading international public transport group, with extensive operations in the UK, United States and Canada. The Group employs around 35,000 people, and operates bus, coach, train, and tram services.

- Stagecoach is one of UK's biggest bus and coach operators with around 7,800 buses and coaches. Around 2.5 million passengers travel on Stagecoach's buses every day on a network stretching from south-west England to the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. The Group's business includes major city bus operations in London, Liverpool, Newcastle, Hull, Manchester, Oxford, Sheffield and Cambridge. Low-cost coach service, megabus.com, operates between around 60 towns and cities across the UK.

- Stagecoach is a major UK rail operator, running the South West Trains, Island Line and East Midlands Trains networks. It has a 49% shareholding in Virgin Rail Group, which operates the West Coast inter-city rail franchise.

- Stagecoach also operates the Supertram light rail network in Sheffield.

- In North America, Stagecoach operates around 2,900 buses and coaches in the United States and Canada. Megabus.com links around 100 key locations in North America. Stagecoach is also involved in operating commuter and transit services, contracted bus services, charters, sightseeing tours and a small number of school bus services.

About The Cloud

- The Cloud (www.thecloud.net) builds and operates Wi-Fi networks across the UK and Europe to provide the mobile media experience that consumers want. The service delivers simple, fast, reliable and cost effective broadband to millions of Wi-Fi enabled smartphones, laptops and entertainment devices. The Cloud has exclusive commercial partnerships with retail, leisure, hotels, sports, transport, and entertainment and content partners to deliver its longer-term vision of a connected society.

- The Cloud has over five million registered users connecting for over 100 million minutes a week at over 14,000 live locations such as the Emirates Stadium, Silverstone Race Track, the City of London, Wetherspoons, PizzaExpress, Caffe Nero, Eat, pubs, leisure facilities, restaurants and mainline stations.

- Approximately five million people pass through The Cloud network everyday by visiting one of its partners, including major outlets such as PizzaExpress, WH Smith, Greggs, Pret A Manger and Wagamama, as well as First Great Western and Network Rail stations.

- The Cloud is a BSkyB Company.