Wi-Fi services have been provided at 6071 railway stations across the country and there is about 97.25 terabytes of data usage every month. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav told Rajya Sabha that Wi-Fi service at these stations is available free of cost to the general public for the first half an hour.
Wi-Fi services have been provided at 6071 railway stations across the country and there is about 97.25 terabytes of data usage every month. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav told Rajya Sabha that Wi-Fi service at these stations is available free of cost to the general public for the first half an hour and after that it is on payment basis.
Taking advantage of online services
He said that the provision of Wi-Fi at railway stations facilitates passengers to access internet at stations. This facility is helping people to avail online services and information.
No separate fund sanctioned
The Railway Minister said that no separate fund has been sanctioned by the Ministry for this scheme. 27.22 crore has been sanctioned by the Department of Communications for Wi-Fi services at 193 stations in rural areas. He informed that Wi-Fi services at 1287 stations are being provided by RailTel Corporation of India. Remaining stations have been provided this facility under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and charity projects of various companies, for which no capital expenditure is incurred.
13555 trains are operated daily
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said that on an average 13,555 trains operate in the country and 37 per cent of these trains are operated by diesel locomotives. It was told in the Rajya Sabha that the remaining 63 percent of the trains are operated by electric locomotives.
He was asked whether it is true that most of the trains in the country are running on diesel and electricity. The Railway Minister said yes. On an average, 13,555 trains (both goods trains and passenger trains) run in Indian Railways. Of this, 63 per cent and 37 per cent vehicles are run by electric and diesel locomotives respectively.
