Digital India: Indian Railways Successfully Launches Free High-Speed Wi-Fi Service At 5,500th Station

In a major boost for Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi's flagship Digital India programme, the Indian Railways has successfully completed the installation and activation of free high-speed Wi-Fi internet at 5,500 railway stations across the nation, reports Asian News International (ANI).

Implemented by RailTel which is a public sector undertaking (PSU) under the control of Ministry of Railways, the programme to install high-speed Wi-Fi services at all of the railway stations in the national rail network had begun in January 2016 with Mumbai Central station becoming the first railway station in the nation to witness the transformation.

Since then, the Miniratna PSU has taken a small span of less than 46 months to reach the milestone mark of 5,500 stations. It should be noted that the 5,500th station to have witnessed the launch of service is Mahua Milan which lies under the administration of East Central Railway.

For the massive project, RailTel has partnered with Google India, Tata Trust and state-owned Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL). RailTel has also received financial support for implementation of the services at 200 railway stations by the Department of Telecom's Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF).