Railway Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu launched high-speed Wi-Fi service at the Visakhapatnam Railway Station remotely from New Delhi on Friday.
Addressing the gathering on Platform No. 1 through the video link, the Railway Minister said that work on provision of Wi-Fi was completed at 19 railway stations in the country, and the number expected to go up to 100 in one year. The plan was to provide the service at 400 major railway stations in the course of time. Quoting Google, Mr. Suresh Prabhu said: “This is the biggest public Wi-Fi system in the world.”
This was one of the steps towards providing better services to passengers, he said, and commended Rail Tel for the fast pace of work in providing the service.
Addressing the gathering at a meeting organised in the station, MP K. Haribabu said: “Wi-Fi has become an integral part of our lives. Work on provision of lift on Platform Nos. 6 and 7 will be taken up. More escalators will also be provided at the station.”
He hoped that the Vistadome (see-through glass coach) would be received in three months for the benefit of tourists visiting Araku by the Visakhapatnam-Kirandul Passenger train.
Allaying apprehensions being expressed by some people that the headquarters of the new railway zone in Andhra Pradesh would be shifted to Vijayawada, Mr. Haribabu said: “Railway zone, if sanctioned, would be in Visakhapatnam only and nowhere else.”
Chief Minister and TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu already made his stand clear on the issue and the BJP was also in favour of Visakhapatnam as headquarters of the new zone. All political parties were in favour of Visakhapatnam and hence the fears were unfounded, he said.
Mr. Haribabu spoke on improvement of passenger amenities and introduction of new trains from Visakhapatnam. He underlined the need for provision of special trains from Visakhapatnam to Vijayawada for the Krishna pushkarams, and appreciated the efforts of Divisional Railway Manager Chandralekha Mukherjee in this regard.
Visakhapatnam West MLA P.V.G.R. Naidu underlined the need for development of the satellite stations at Duvvada, Simhachalam, and Pendurthy to meet the growing number of passengers utilising the stations. Visakhapatnam North MLA P. Vishnu Kumar Raju said that having a new railway zone with headquarters in Visakhapatnam was the long-cherished dream of the people and expressed optimism that the Railway Minister would soon announce it.
Earlier, Ms. Chandralekha Mukherjee welcomed the gathering.
