A total of 218 more stations in Southern Railway will offer free Wi-Fi connectivity to passengers by the first week of September, taking the number of stations with the facility to 500 in the zone.
This is part of a scheme to provide access to the internet at 4,791 stations across the country.
Tata Trusts has been told to expedite the project, which is to be completed under the 100-day programme of the Narendra Modi government (NDA-II) at the Centre.
A high-level review meeting at the Railway Board advised Tata Trusts to give a timeline for commissioning the facility before the deadline.
Google is likely to provide the solution for Authorising, Authenticating and Accounting of customers accessing the Wi-Fi, which will initially be of 1 Mbps speed.
Principal Chief Signal and Telecommunications Engineer S.K. Goyal said free Wi-Fi at all stations with train stoppages would be available by September first week.
Of the 500-odd such stations in the Southern Railway, the facility was already available in 282 stations. The respective railway zones would provide space and cable for installing the facility.
Tata Trusts spokesperson said orders had been placed for equipment and the process of installation and commissioning of Wi-Fi at 4,791 stations would be completed by September.
Google solution for the authentication was required as per the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India guidelines.
Tata Trusts would provide a grant for implementing the project through vendors and hand over the facility to the Indian Railways, the spokesperson added.
