RailTel, a government of India enterprise which was responsible for the implementation of free Wi-Fi in 1000 stations across the country, has successfully done so.

The project was started first in Maharashtra’s Mumbai Central station in January 2016, which was reportedly the first station to have a fast and free RailWire Wi-Fi followed by the successful execution of the same in 1000 stations within a span of 2 years and 3 months. “Recently RailTel has roped in Tata Trust for providing Wi-Fi at remaining 4791 B, C, D and E category stations across the country. These stations will have free high-speed RailWire Wi-Fi by RailTel by the end of this year. Once completed all Railway stations (except the halt stations) of Indian Railways will have fast and free RailWire Wi-Fi. These are very small stations catering to mainly rural/low population density areas,” a statement from RailTel read.

The CMD of RailTel, Punit Chawla, explained that several challenges were faced by the team during the enforcement of the project, including the large size of stations, various hindrances for the Wi-Fi signal such as thick stone walls blocking coverage, every station design being unique, the fitments needing customization, huge footfalls, power outages, re-development of stations, and ongoing construction activities at stations.

With RailTel starting to provide free Wi-Fi at rural railway stations too, it is believed to be a major scope for digital growth in rural India. As of February 2019, the total number of unique users of the station Wi-Fi was 11577141 and the total data consumption was 9065.27 TB, according to the statement.