Mumbai’s otherwise harried suburban Railway commuters have something to cheer. They can now make the most of free high-speed wi-fi facility introduced by the Indian Railways at eight stations in Mumbai and Thane.
As part of an initiative to provide net-connectivity to suburban commuters, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Monday inaugurated a free high-speed wi-fi Internet facility for railway commuters at eight suburban stations at lokmanya Tilak Terminus (lTT) and Kalyan Railway station on the Central Railway, Dadar (W.Rly & C.Rly), Bandra Terminus, Bandra, Churchgate and Khar Road stations on the Western Railway.
Currently, wi-fi services are active in the suburban sections of CST and Mumbai Central Terminus. The users can follow user instructions on their mobiles to avail the high-speed wi-fi for the first 30 minutes after which the speed will drop and the user must login afresh.
The Wi-Fi services are being provided under 'RailWire', which has been designed to offer users the best and fastest internet experience to anyone who has a smart phone. As many as 17 suburban stations in Mumbai have been chosen for installation of the Wi-Fi facility, which is being provided by RailTel at a speed of 1 Gbps.
At a function jointly organised by the Central Railway and Western Railway at Dadar in north-central Mumbai, Prabhu also inaugurated the Central Railway’s 12-car EMU services on Harbour line, two new 12-coach platforms for harbour line and 2 lifts at Andheri, deck and booking office (south end) at Goregaon, foot-over bridges at Karjat, Shahad, Kurla, King's Circle, Reay Road and Chembur and a foot-over bridges and escalator at Vasai Road and Nallasopara by unveiling a plaque.
Besides, the minister threw open to public the newly developed garden at Central Railway's Dadar station under Corporate Social Responsibility initiative, AC dormitory at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Water recycling plant at CST, bio-toilet for differently-abled persons at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Deluxe toilet at Kurla, Thane, Pay & Use toilet at Mahalaxmi, "Namma" toilet at Khar Road, new toilets at Kalyan and Govandi, G+2 Building with new booking offices at Borivali, Nallasopara and Goregaon (north end) by unveiling the respective plaques.In his speech, Prabhu underscored the need for staggering the timings of various government organizations to reduce overcrowding and better utilization of the Mumbai suburban rail networks and its services.
Prabhu said that he would interact with tech experts from all over the world on September 2 for discussing various technology innovations which can be used in the Indian Railways.
Prominent among others present on the occasion were Union Minister of State for Social Justice & Environment Ramdas Athawale, WR general manager G. C. Agrawal, CR divisional railway manager Ravindra Goyal, CMD Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation Prabhat Sahai, CMD RailTel R. K. Bahuguna, CMD IRCTC A. K. Manocha, Mayor Snehal Ambekar, and elected representatives.