Train travelers who frequent Amtrak stations in the Northeast Corridor will now have access to high-speed wireless Internet service at five locations. The Wi-Fi service, provided by T-Mobile HotSpots, will be available at Washington Union Station, Baltimore Penn Station, Wilmington Station, Philadelphia 30th Street Station and New York Penn Station. Customers can surf securely with Wireless Protected Access (WPA), which helps protect the wireless signal and any information you send or receive. The wireless service comes at a cost and many service plans are available, including a one-day unlimited use pass ($9.99), a pay as you go plan ($6 for the first 60 minutes and $0.10 per minute thereafter) or a monthly plan with a 12-month commitment ($29.99/month) or without ($39.99/month). If you have T-Mobile cellular service, you can surf for free when you add a $19.99 monthly unlimited data plan to your phone service.

This isn’t the first time Amtrak has introduced wireless service — Wi-Fi was first provided at Amtrak stations in 2004 by AT&T but the arrangement wasn’t permanent. There are rumors that Amtrak will offer Wi-Fi on the trains and Michael Blakely, Senior Director for Loyalty Marketing, tells us “Amtrak is exploring the possibility of Wi-Fi access on our Acela Express trains running between Washington, D.C. and Boston, Mass., but has no definitive answer at this time.”