Kolkata: Passengers at Shalimar Station can now download a book or stream music of their choice, have an overview of their destination, or simply browse through news without interruption thanks to South Eastern Railway for making the station a free WiFi zone.
The WiFi facility has been commissioned by RailTel, rendering free high-speed world class internet service to the commuters.
"There is a rising trend of WiFi usage among passengers waiting at different stations of SER. Keeping this in mind, nine more stations under SER's jurisdiction will have free WiFi connectivity within the current financial year 2018-19. The stations include Chakulia, Haldia, Tamluk, Dantan, Midnapur, Mecheda, Santragachi, Bagnan and Panskura," a senior SER official said.
SER has so far commissioned WiFi services at 14 stations enabling lakhs of rail passengers to log on to the free internet facility. Apart from Shalimar, the 13 SER stations that are already equipped with the WiFi facility are Kharagpur, Ranchi, Digha, Purulia, Hatia, Bokaro, Tatanagar, Rourkela, Jharsuguda, Balasore, Mahalimarup, Barabamboo and Tiruldih.
Under Indian Railways, altogether 746 railway stations have been provided with free internet, proving to be very useful to the general public. Indian Railways has plans to extend this facility to at least 2,000 stations across the country in near future and ultimately covering all stations under the Union government's Digital India initiatives.