RailTel avails free Wi-fi at 6,100 railway stations across India

The high-speed free Wi-Fi internet facility has now become available at 6,100 railway stations across the country.

Out of these, more than 5,000 stations are in rural areas making Wi-Fi facility available at many far-flung stations across the country like several stations of North Eastern Region and all the 15 stations of Kashmir Valley.

The milestone of 6,100 stations with Wi-Fi coverage was reached with the commissioning of the newest Wi-Fi facility at Ubarni Railway station in the Lucknow Division of Northern Railway. Designed to offer users the best internet experience, RailWire Wi-Fi at railway stations is available to any user who has a smartphone with a working mobile connection for KYC considerations.

With this, India is close to 100% coverage (except the halt stations) and only a few stations are left. The responsibility to implement this remarkable Digital India initiative has been entrusted to Railway Mini Ratna PSU RAILTEL.

The facility is very user friendly. To switch on the connection, passengers need to scan Wi-Fi options and choose RailWire. Once the browser takes the user to the RailWire portal, it will ask for a mobile number to which a One Time Password (OTP) will be sent. Once connected, the Wi-Fi connection will last for 30 minutes. This helps the rail passengers to stay connected and updated with information.

The Wi-Fi is free for the first 30 min of usage every day at 1 mbps speed. The user needs to choose a plan with a higher speed by paying a nominal fee for using the Wi-Fi facility further at a higher speed beyond 30 minutes. The plans vary from Rs. 10/day (for 5 GB @ 34 MBPS) to Rs. 75/30 day (for 60 GB @ 34 MBPS) excluding GST. A number of payment options like net banking, wallet, credit card can be used to purchase the plan online.

Puneet Chawla, Chairman & Managing Director, RailTel said, “The Wi-Fi internet facility at stations has become quite popular and useful, especially at stations situated in rural areas. It is a crucial step for the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s Digital India Mission as this Wi-Fi facility will go a long way in connecting the unconnected. RailTel has invested a significant amount of Capex in building this network and to monetize this we have launched paid Wi-Fi plan across all Wi-Fi stations after allowing the first 30 minutes of ‘free’ use. We are also going to monetize the network through advertisement-based revenue for which we intend to come out with an EOI shortly.”