CHENNAI: Passengers will
soon be able to browse the net as they wait for trains at Chennai
Central, with the station set to become the first in the country to
offer Wi-Fi connectivity.
The plan was officially inaugurated by railway minister D V Sadananda
Gowda on Friday. It will take a few more days for passengers to be able
to use the Wi-Fi facility. The Union minister also inspected the
Royapuram railway station. When TOI visited the station at around
7.15pm, the designated Wi-Fi centre was empty and padlocked.
According to senior railway officials, the Wi-Fi system will have a
signal booster to maintain 512kbps bandwidth speed for up to 60 metres
at the station. The estimated cost of the project is 60 lakh, officials
said, adding that they would make periodic improvements in the system.
"Passengers will be
directed to a login page and will receive a one-time password that they
can use to access the net through the Wi-Fi system," a senior official
of the railways' technical wing said. The first 30 minutes of browsing
will be free. Passengers will face restrictions on uploading of data but
there will be no restrictions on downloading data from the internet. A
top-up to extend browsing time beyond the first 30 minutes can be
secured by an online payment.
