The railways has enabled free Wi-Fi at its 6000th station as the facility went live at Hazaribagh Town of Jharkhand on Saturday, the national transporter said. The railways provided Wi-Fi facility first at the Mumbai Railway station in 2016, reaching its 5000th station, at Midanpore in West Bengal.

On May 15, Jarapada station in Angul District of Odisha was also provided with Wi-Fi facility, it said on Sunday. The Wi-Fi facility at railway stations meets the objectives of aspiring Digital India' programme of the government of India. This will bridge the digital divide between the rural and urban citizens thereby increasing the digital footprint in the rural villages and also enhance the user experience, the railways said.

Wi-Fi facility is being provided by Indian railways at 6,000 stations now, it added. Provision of Wi-Fi facilities at stations is being provided on a self-sustainable basis with no cost to the railways with the help of RailTel, a PSU under Ministry of Railways.

The task was carried out in partnership with Google, DOT (under USOF), PGCIL and Tata Trust, it said.

(Edited by : Aditi Gautam)

First Published:May 16, 2021 3:58 PM IST