Today marks the introduction of free wi-fi on Southeastern trains, bringing a much-needed smile to commuters' faces after last week's rail chaos.

The technology has already been installed on two-thirds of the company's 392-strong fleet, with the remainder set to be completed by June.

It comes after passengers were promised by rail minister Paul Maynard last year that Southeastern would benefit from an investment of nearly £50m.

Browsing social media, sending emails without large attachments and accessing basic travel and timetable information will all be possible.

With a 50MB daily usage allowance per passenger, it is not however designed for streaming films or TV programmes with Southeastern advising this is done at home.

The company say it will be easy to use, just look for ‘Southeastern_WiFi’ in your available networks.

Users will not even be asked to supply an email address.

Engineering director, Mark Johnson, said: “We’re thrilled to provide this free wi-fi for our passengers.

"We know that this is what they’ve been asking for, so our engineers have worked day and night to install the system."

Dedicated installation teams at Southeastern’s depots at Ashford, Ramsgate and Slade Green have worked around the clock to fit every train in the fleet – a process that will continue until June to cover all trains – Metro, Mainline and High Speed.

For many of Southeastern’s engineering team, it’s the biggest project they’ve been involved in.

The company has created a signal strength map to show areas where there may be limited connectivity. This includes tunnels.

There is also a dedicated helpline number available for technical queries: 0208 028 0393.