New Delhi/Kalinga Voice
Indian Railways has commissioned Wi-Fi at 6,000th Railway station.Indian Railway is continuing to extend the Wi-Fi facility at far flanged stations to connect the passengers and the general public with digital systems.
With the commissioning of Wi-Fi at Hazaribagh Town falling under Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand state in Dhanbad Division of East Central Railway as on 15.05.2021, Indian Railways commissioned Wi-Fi at 6,000 Railway stations.
Indian Railways have started its Journey by providing Wi-Fi facility at 1st Railway station Mumbai in January 2016. Thereafter, provided 5000th Railway station, at Midanpore in West Bengal and reached 6000th Railway station i.e Hazaribagh on 15.05.2021. Also, on the same day Jarapada station in Angul District of state of Odisha was also provided with Wi-Fi.
The Wi-Fi facility at Railway Stations meets the objectives of the aspiring Digital India Program of Government of India. This will bridge the digital divide between the rural and urban citizens thereby increasing the digital footprint in the rural villages and also enhance the user experience. Wi-Fi facility is being provided by Indian railways at 6000 stations now.
Provision of Wi-Fi facilities at Railway stations on self sustainable basis with no cost to the Railways. This facility was provided with the help of RailTel, a PSU under Ministry of Railways. This task was carried out in partnership with Google, DOT (under USOF), PGCIL and Tata Trust.
State-wise Wi-Fi faciity at Railway stations as on 15.05.21 are as under:
| State-wise Wi-Fi faciity at stations as on 15.05.21 | ||
| SN | State/UT | No. of Stations |
| 1 | Andhra Pradesh | 509 |
| 2 | Arunachal Pradesh | 3 |
| 3 | Assam | 222 |
| 4 | Bihar | 384 |
| 5 | UT Chandigarh | 5 |
| 6 | Chhattisgarh | 115 |
| 7 | Delhi | 27 |
| 8 | Goa | 20 |
| 9 | Gujarat | 320 |
| 10 | Haryana | 134 |
| 11 | Himachal Pradesh | 24 |
| 12 | Jammu & Kashmir | 14 |
| 13 | Jharkhand | 217 |
| 14 | Karnataka | 335 |
| 15 | Kerala | 120 |
| 16 | Madhya Pradesh | 393 |
| 17 | Maharashtra | 550 |
| 18 | Meghalaya | 1 |
| 19 | Mizoram | 1 |
| 20 | Nagaland | 3 |
| 21 | Odisha | 232 |
| 22 | Punjab | 146 |
| 23 | Rajasthan | 458 |
| 24 | Sikkim | 1 |
| 25 | Tamil Nadu | 418 |
| 26 | Telangana | 45 |
| 27 | Tripura | 19 |
| 28 | Uttar Pradesh | 762 |
| 29 | Uttarakhand | 24 |
| 30 | West Bengal | 498 |
| Total | 6000 |
