Bored waiting for your train at Chennai Central railway station? Step into the virtual world and send office mails or skim through Facebook, using the free Wi-Fi offered at the station.
Chennai Central became the first railway station to get Wi-Fi connectivity after railway minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda inaugurated the facility on Friday. However, many commuters said they were not able to access the Internet from the platforms.
The minister had announced in the Budget that Wi-Fi facility would be provided at all A1 stations. A pilot project has been started at Chennai Central by RailTel, a public sector telecom infrastructure provider.
“To access Wi-Fi, the passenger has to choose the ‘railwire’ network. The username is the person’s mobile number and the password will be messaged to respective users upon registering,” said a railway official.
Browsing is free for the first half-an-hour, and after that, a nominal amount will be charged. “We will introduce Wi-Fi at Egmore railway station next,” said the official.
On Friday, several passengers who tried to log in were unable to access the network, however.
“It is a welcome move and will be useful to business travellers. But I was not able to access the Internet from platform nine,” said E. Shanmugham, a passenger.
Land needed for terminal at RoyapuramThe Union minister also visited Royapuram railway station and conducted an inspection.
Following discussions with elected representatives and residents, in the presence of Mayor Saidai Duraisamy and other officials, Mr. Gowda said land would be required from the State for commissioning the Royapuram terminal.
Residents requested the Railways to avoid land acquisition at their expense.
