Indian railways slam on the brakes of WiFi Project
The WiFi project has been dropped by Indian railways due to capital-intensive technology with recurring costs in the form of bandwidth charges.
The Indian Railways has dropped the much-trumpeted project of WiFi in trains, wiping away the dream of railway passengers getting internet facilities in running trains.
The Railway’s decision to drop the project two years after its announcement is seen as a huge step back in India’s journey towards digital empowerment. It is also been considered as a blow to the government’s ambitious Digital India programme, which had a core aim to increase internet connectivity.
The Railways had launched WiFi facility, through satellite communication technology, on a pilot basis in the Howrah Rajdhani Express.
“This technology was capital intensive with recurring costs in the form of bandwidth charges and thus, was not cost-effective. Also, the internet bandwidth available to passengers was inadequate,” Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.
“Hence, the project was dropped. At present, suitable cost-effective technology for provision of WiFi based internet services in trains is not available,” as per Vaishnaw.
In 2019, former railway minister Piyush Goyal had said that the Centre was planning to provide WiFi services in trains.
Indian Railways continues to provide WiFi facilities at 6,000 stations. The facility is being provided with the help of RailTel, a public sector undertaking (PSU) under the Ministry of Railways.