New Delhi: On Wednesday, the government informed Parliament that railways had dropped a project to provide internet access in trains because it was not cost-effective.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, said as a pilot project, Wi-Fi based internet service was provided in the Howrah Rajdhani Express train through satellite communication technology.
‘This technology was capital intensive with recurring costs in the form of bandwidth charges and thus, was not cost-effective. Also, the internet bandwidth availability to passengers was inadequate. Hence, the project was dropped. At present, suitable cost-effective technology for provision of Wi-Fi based internet services in trains is not available,’ he said.
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The Centre is planning to provide WiFi services in trains in the next four to four-and-a-half years, former railway minister Piyush Goyal announced in 2019.
The Indian Railways currently offers Wi-Fi to over 6,000 stations on a self-sustaining basis with no cost to the national transporter. The facility is being provided by RailTel, a public sector undertaking (PSU) under the Ministry of Railways.
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