Internet facilities for passengers on Indian trains soon

New Delhi, May 3 (PTI) Be it booking a ticket or keeping
a tab on the stock market, select rail passengers will soon be
able to work online while on the move as Indian Railway is
mulling on a proposal to provide satellite-based Internet
facility on premier trains.

Besides checking the stock prices on real time basis,
passengers of such trains can access bank accounts and also
book air and rail tickets while travelling.

A trial run was successfully carried out on the
Mumbai-Ahmedabad Shatabdi Express and the report has been
submitted to the Railway Ministry.

The report is being examined and the ministry is likely
to appoint a committee for working out the modalities for
introduction of Internet in trains, a senior Railway Ministry
official said.

Besides Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains, saloon cars and
accident relief trains are also to be equipped with the
transmission technology for Internet connectivity.

The proposal also envisages provision of LCD screen on
every seat of Ist AC coach of Shatabdi and Ist and IInd AC
coaches of Rajdhani trains.

It is estimated to cost about Rs 340 crores to implement
the ambitious project as it requires VSAT terminal, Wi-fi set
up, dedicated VSAT hub among other equipment.

Termed as value addition to passenger amenities,
railways is keen to establish High Speed Internet Corridor
along all routes to provide Internet, IPTV and other
entertainment and utility services in trains.

The plan envisages introduction of onboard audio and
video entertainment system for passengers during the journey.

All these steps are being undertaken to provide better
facilities to railway passengers, the official said.

As the telecom front is constantly changing due to rapid
technological advancement, railways is gearing up to extend
more secure and high reliability solutions for various data
and voice applications.

"Telecommunication is going to play a very vital role in
train operations and will almost be like an invisible track
along with the physical track on which trains will run," the
official said adding, "It would not be possible to operate
railway system without a robust telecom system providing
reliable, high capacity and secure communication."

Indian Railways has established its own state-of-the-art
satellite-based VSAT hub system in the capital, which is
considered the best option for providing reliable connectivity
for freight operation information system (FOIS) at remote
locations where freight loading takes place.

VSAT system can also be used for train operation and
maintenance activities. PTI ARU
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