Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu here on Monday inaugurated a free high-speed wi-fi internet facility for railway commuters at eight stations in Mumbai and Thane.The wi-fi service shall be available on Central Railway stations at Kalyan (Thane district) and Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, Dadar CR and on Western Railway stations at Bandra, Bandra Terminus, Khar, Dadar WR and Churchgate stations.The users can follow instructions on their mobiles to avail the high-speed wi-fi for the first 30 minutes after which the speed will drop and the user must login afresh.Presently, Mumbai Central is the only station which has the free wi-fi facility from the among the 100 across the country announced in the last Railway Budget.Additionally, Prabhu dedicated several other amenities for commuters on WR, CR and Harbour Line including 12-car EMU services, two new 12 coach platforms, two lifts at Andheri, new booking offices at Borivali, Nallasopara and Goregaon, a FOBs at Karjat, Shahad, Kurla, Kings Circle, Reay Road, Vasai and Chembur, escalators at Varai and Nallasopara station.
Other facilities thrown open were a graden at Dadar station, a bio-toilet for handicapped, an airconditioned dormitory and water recycling plant at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, deluxe toilets at Kurla and Thane, toilets at Mahalaxmi, Khar, Kalyan and Govandi.In his address, Prabhu urged railway officials to increase their interaction with the state government and municipal authorities for better delivery of passenger amenities in the vicinity of the railways.He called for staggering the timings of various government organisations to reduce overcrowding and better utilisation of the Mumbai suburban rail networks and its services.Prabhu said on September 2, he would interact with tech experts from all over the world for discussing various technology innovations which can be used in the Indian Railways.Present on the occasion were Union Minister of State for Social Justice & Environment Ramdas Athawale, WR general manager G.C. Agrawal, CR divisional railway manager Ravindra Goyal, CMD Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation Prabhat Sahai, CMD RailTel R.K. Bahuguna, CMD IRCTC A.K. Manocha, Mayor Snehal Ambekar, and elected representatives.