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Indian Railways drops project to provide internet in trains, says it's not cost-effective

2021-08-09 00:00:00.0 铸币报-政治原网页

Two years after Indian Railways made the announcement to provide internet connectivity in running trains, the government has "dropped" the project stating thatit was not cost-effective, the government informed Parliament.

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

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"This technology was capital intensive with recurring costs in the form of bandwidth charges and thus, was not cost effective. Also, the internet bandwidth availability to passengers was inadequate.

"Hence, the project was dropped. At present, suitable cost-effective technology for provision of Wi-Fi based internet services in trains is not available," he said.

Former railway minister Piyush Goyal had said in 2019 that the Centre is planning to provide WiFi services in trains in the next four to four-and-a-half years.

Currently, Wi-Fi facility is being provided by the Indian Railways at more than 6,000 stations on a self-sustainable basis with no cost to the national transporter. The facility is being provided with the help of RailTel, a public sector undertaking (PSU) under the Ministry of Railways.

Former Railway Minister had earlier this year said in Lok Sabha that Wi-Fi based internet facility has been provided at 5957 railway stations in the country till now.

"RailTel has submitted proposal to DoT for leveraging its network in rural India&its collaborative broadband services model to provide PM Wani enabled community Wi-Fi services," said Railways Minister Piyush Goyal in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha.