Virginia Railway Express is again considering adding wireless Internet to its commuter trains, but this time officials say it could help the train service, not just entertain riders. The commuter train service that shuttles workers from as far as Manassas and Fredericksburg to their D.C.-area jobs has been talking about adding WiFi to its trains since at least January 2011. But officials have taken it on and off the table because of cost and concerns about reliability.

Now, according to a memo, wireless Internet could also be crucial for new train safety technology that will be required for trains by 2015. It could help the agency diagnose problems with trains in real time and share information with riders about trains’ actual locations. Eventually riders could pay fares with their smartphones just as Amtrak has recently said it will be able to do soon with iPhones.