In a bid to connect passengers and the general public with digital systems, the national transporter is continuing to extend the WiFi facility at far-flanged stations
By providing WiFi at Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh Town in Dhanbad Division of East Central Railway zone, Piyush Goyal-led Indian Railways has commissioned WiFi facility at 6,000 railway stations, so far. In a bid to connect passengers and the general public with digital systems, the national transporter is continuing to extend the WiFi facility at far-flanged stations. Mumbai railway station was the first railway station where WiFi was provided in January 2016. Thereafter, Midanpore in West Bengal became the 5000th station to have WiFi and on 15 May 2021, Hazaribagh became the 6000th station to have WiFi. On the same day, Jarapada railway station in Odisha’s Angul district was also provided with WiFi.
Read More ; Unable to book COVID-19 vaccine appointment? Check easy steps to get slot on CoWin
The WiFi service at stations meets the objectives of the Modi government’s Digital India Program. The move aims to bridge the digital divide between the urban and rural citizens thereby maximizing the digital footprint in the rural villages as well as enhance the user experience. According to the Railway Ministry, provision of WiFi facilities at stations is done on self sustainable basis with no cost to Indian Railways. The WiFi facility was provided with the help of a PSU under the Railway Ministry- RailTel. The task of providing WiFi was carried out in partnership with Google, DOT, PGCIL as well as Tata Trust. As on May 15, state-wise WiFi facility at stations are as below:
- Andhra Pradesh- 509 stations
- Arunachal Pradesh- 3 stations
- Assam- 3 stations
- Bihar- 384 stations
- Chandigarh- 5 stations
- Chhattisgarh- 115 stations
- Delhi- 27 stations
- Goa-20 stations
- Gujarat- 320 stations
- Haryana- 134 stations
- Himachal Pradesh- 24 stations
- Jammu & Kashmir- 14 stations
- Jharkhand- 217 stations
- Karnataka- 335 stations
- Kerala- 120 stations
- Madhya Pradesh- 393 stations
- Maharashtra- 550 stations
- Meghalaya- 1 station
- Mizoram- 1 station
- Nagaland- 3 stations
- Odisha- 232 stations
- Punjab- 146 stations
- Rajasthan- 458 stations
- Sikkim- 1 station
- Tamil Nadu- 418 stations
- Telangana- 45 stations
- Tripura- 19 stations
- Uttar Pradesh- 762 stations
- Uttarakhand- 24 stations
- West Bengal- 498 stations
