Indian Railways is continuing to extend the Wi-Fi facility at far flanged stations to connect the passengers and the general public with digital systems. With the commissioning of Wi-Fi at Hazaribagh Town falling under Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand state in Dhanbad Division of East Central Railway as on 15.05.2021, Indian Railways commissioned Wi-Fi at 6,000 Railway stations.
- Indian Railways started its Journey by providing Wi-Fi facility at 1st Railway station Mumbai in January 2016.
- Thereafter, provided 5000th Railway station, at Midnapore in West Bengal and reached 6000th Railway station i.e Hazaribagh on 15.05.2021.
- Also, on the same day Jarapada station in Angul District of state of Odisha was also provided with Wi-Fi.
- The Wi-Fi facility at Railway Stations meets the objectives of the aspiring Digital India Program of Government of India.
- This will bridge the digital divide between the rural and urban citizens thereby increasing the digital footprint in the rural villages and also enhance the user experience.
- Wi-Fi facility is being provided by Indian railways at 6000 stations now.
- Provision of Wi-Fi facilities at Railway stations on a self sustainable basis with no cost to the Railways.
- This facility was provided with the help of RailTel, a PSU under the Ministry of Railways.
- This task was carried out in partnership with Google, DOT (under USOF), PGCIL and Tata Trust.
State-wise Wi-Fi facility at Railway stations as on 15.05.21 are as under:
| SN | State/UT | No. of Stations |
| 1 | Andhra Pradesh | 509 |
| 2 | Arunachal Pradesh | 3 |
| 3 | Assam | 222 |
| 4 | Bihar | 384 |
| 5 | UT Chandigarh | 5 |
| 6 | Chhattisgarh | 115 |
| 7 | Delhi | 27 |
| 8 | Goa | 20 |
| 9 | Gujarat | 320 |
| 10 | Haryana | 134 |
| 11 | Himachal Pradesh | 24 |
| 12 | Jammu & Kashmir | 14 |
| 13 | Jharkhand | 217 |
| 14 | Karnataka | 335 |
| 15 | Kerala | 120 |
| 16 | Madhya Pradesh | 393 |
| 17 | Maharashtra | 550 |
| 18 | Meghalaya | 1 |
| 19 | Mizoram | 1 |
| 20 | Nagaland | 3 |
| 21 | Odisha | 232 |
| 22 | Punjab | 146 |
| 23 | Rajasthan | 458 |
| 24 | Sikkim | 1 |
| 25 | Tamil Nadu | 418 |
| 26 | Telangana | 45 |
| 27 | Tripura | 19 |
| 28 | Uttar Pradesh | 762 |
| 29 | Uttarakhand | 24 |
| 30 | West Bengal | 498 |
| Total | 6000 |
Source: PIB-Press Release | Image Credit: MoR
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