Hyderabad: Indian Railways has been at the forefront of implementing Digital Initiatives realizing the dream of Digital India and information technology-oriented passenger applications/amenities. One such initiative has been the provision of free High-speed Wi-Fi to rail users at the Railway stations.
The South Central Railway, in this direction, has extended this facility to all Railway stations of the Zone except halt stations which figure out to a huge total of 588 railway stations. Around 6000 Route Kms of SCR network is now covered with Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) to accomplish this huge task, turning Railway Stations into hubs of digital inclusion.
The 588 stations which have been provided with Wi-Fi facility include – 30 major Non-suburban Grade stations (NSG1, NSG2 & NSG3 category) and 558 medium and small stations (other Non-suburban and Suburban stations). With this, all stations of SCR (except Halt category stations) are now extended with a free high-speed Wi-Fi facility.
Public visiting railway stations can use this facility for streaming High Definition (HD) Videos, downloading movies, songs, games, and do their offices work online. Students and other competitive exam aspirants from remote locations with limited access to the internet can use the station’s Wi-Fi facilities for their preparations. Passengers are also using this facility for leveraging entertainment on their personal devices. Feedback from Passengers at Major Stations across South Central Railway at Secunderabad, Kacheguda, Vijayawada, Tirupati, Guntur, Nanded etc indicate excellent connectivity, seamless data access and a great facility for the passengers.
The Free Wi-Fi services to rail users, designed to offer the best Internet experience to users, is accessible by any user who has a smartphone with a working mobile connection. The Wi-Fi is free for the first 30 min of usage every day at 1 Mbps speed; thereafter passenger has the option to extend the same by paying nominal user charges through the online mechanism. This initiative of Indian Railways and Rail Tel have paved the way for the common Indian Railway Traveler to reap the benefits of Digital Technology, truly ensuring that Digital India is happening where it really matters – On Stations of Indian Railways where the public can have free access to Technology through Rail Wire’s Wi-Fi.
SCR General Manager Gajanan Mallya has congratulated Signal & Telecommunication department officials, Rail Tel officials and all other staff who have put on their efforts for achieving this task. He opined that, in the present scenario, the use of smartphone & internet has increased enormously with revolutionary change in Technology and therefore free high-speed Wi-Fi will surely help the passengers in all ways like entertainment, information, knowledge, communication and skills. The digital initiatives implemented by Railways are very much beneficial to all rail users in providing comfort and convenience, he added. (INN)