New Delhi (NVI): Mahuamilan Station in Jharkhand under the Indian Railways’ East Central Railway Zone becomes the 5,500th railway station in the country to provide free WiFi services. With that, according to the national transporter’s digital arm RailTel latest report, over 1.5 crore users accessed free WiFi services across all stations this year.
The Indian Railways began providing free WiFi services at its stations from January 2016. Mumbai Central Station was the first station to be equipped with the free WiFi service. Free Wi-Fi service to passengers is being provided under ‘RailWire’, which is a retail broadband initiative of the RailTel.
According to the Railways officials the idea behind the initiative is to transform the railway stations into the hub of digital inclusion. Indian Railways mandated RailTel, a Miniratna public sector undertaking under the Ministry of Railways, to provide free high-speed Wi-Fi at the railway stations.
Puneet Chawla, CMD of RailTel said that the free access to high-speed Wi-Fi will help in bridging the digital divide between rural and urban India.
“In October this year, a total of 1.5 crore users logins in RailWire Wi-Fi services across all stations,” Chawla added.
-sb
