All Southeastern trains could be equipped to provide free wifi by next year, the company has revealed.

Some trains could be ready to roll with the technology this year after a supplier was chosen by the operator.

Technology firm Icomera, which specialises in large scale Wi-Fi projects, will work with Southeastern to enable connectivity on all trains by 2018.

And, as the work will be rolled out in stages across Southeastern’s fleet of 367 trains, some will be fitted with Wi-Fi technology as early as this year.

The move is part of a major investment, which includes millions of pounds spent on station and train refurbishments and 300 more frontline staff.

Rail Minister Paul Maynard said: “We are investing nearly £50m to roll out free, fast and reliable Wi-Fi on trains and I am delighted that Southeastern passengers are set to be among those to benefit.

"We are working hard to ensure that passengers can work, get information or simply stay in touch with friends and family while they travel.

"We already require new franchisees to offer free Wi-Fi as standard and are determined that 90% of all trains will have access to Wi-Fi by the end of 2018.”

Southeastern Managing Director David Statham said: “This is an exciting moment for us, it’s taken a lot of hard work to get to this stage, but we’re happy to now be at the point where we can share this news with our passengers.

“There is still a big job to do, but we are closer to delivering internet connectivity on all our trains.

Southeastern Passengers will be asked to register to connect to the internet.