Indian Railways bets big on WiFi at railway stations project; over 6,800 stations to offer free internet

In its 100 days' action plan, the national transporter has proposed to provide the free high-speed WiFi service at the remaining 4,882 stations. At these stations, the WiFi works project is being executed through various government and private agencies.

Written by Devanjana Nag

June 21, 2019 16:36 IST

The council is planning to set up as many as 625 smart poles to provide internet connectivity across the areas

Over 6,800 Indian Railways stations to have free high-speed WiFi! In a one-of-its-kind project, Indian Railways is looking to rapidly provide the facility of free high-speed WiFi at all 6,485 railway stations, excluding halt stations. This forms part of Piyush Goyal-led Indian Railways’ 100-day roadmap for the national transporter that has been drawn up by Modi 2.0 government. The 100-day roadmap document, seen by Financial Express Online, proposes to complete the WiFi project for all major stations on a priority basis.

So far, the free high-speed WiFi facility has been provided at as many as 1,603 railway stations. In its 100 days’ action plan, the national transporter has proposed to provide the free high-speed WiFi service at the remaining 4,882 stations. At these stations, the WiFi works project is being executed through various government and private agencies.

The free WiFi at stations is a big boon for railway passengers and staff as it allows quick and easy access to the internet that can be used to stream videos, watch movies, listen to music, net banking and a host of other important tasks. The WiFi project by Indian Railways is also an important part of PM Narendra Modi’s “Digital India” initiative.

RailTel, a mini ratna under the Ministry of Railways, has been entrusted with the task of completing Modi government’s ambitious project of equipping all stations with free high-speed WiFi. The WiFi is being provided under ‘RailWire’, the retail Broadband initiative of RailTel and the PSU has tied up with Google for the project. The internet service available to those users who have a working mobile connection for KYC considerations.

How to use RailWire free WiFi on Indian Railways stations?

To use free high-speed internet facility, people have to switch on their smartphone’s WiFi mode and choose the RailWire network. Following this, the RailWire homepage appears on the phone screen. Now, the individual has to enter his or her mobile number on the homepage. By doing this, a one-time password (OTP) is generated for the verification. After entering the OTP, the verification is complete and the person is able to use the high-speed internet service for free.

Other than prominent stations, the PSU is also targeting several smaller stations to implement the WiFi project. The RailWire’s WiFi service is rated as one of the largest and fastest Public WiFi network in the world by various independent rating agencies.

This article was first uploaded on June twenty-one, twenty nineteen, at thirty-six minutes past four in the afternoon.