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Railways junks plan to have Wi-Fi in trains, says it is not cost effective

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the technology was capital intensive and had recurring costs in the form of bandwidth charges. 

Railways drops plan to have Wi-Fi in trains, says it is not cost effective-VPN
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New Delhi, First Published Aug 4, 2021, 10:56 PM IST

Indian Railways has shelved plans to provide Internet connection in its trains after the government found the project not very commercially viable.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, in a written response to a question in the Lok Sabha, stated that a Wi-Fi-based internet facility was provided as a pilot project in the Howrah Rajdhani Express train through satellite communication technology.

The minister said the technology, which was provided by Railways public sector undertaking RailTel, was capital intensive and had recurring costs in the form of bandwidth charges. 

He further said that the project had to be dropped as it was not cost-effective. 

Also, the minister noted that the Internet bandwidth available to passengers was inadequate. 

As of now, a Wi-Fi facility is being provided by the Indian Railways at over 6,000 stations on a self-sustainable basis with no cost to the national transporter.

To recall, then Railway Minister Piyush Goyal had in 2019 announced that the Centre is planning to provide Wi-Fi services in trains within the next five years. 

"Giving Wi-Fi in trains requires capital investment. Towers need to be installed. There has to be equipment inside trains. For this, the government may have to bring in foreign technology and investors," he had said.

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