BHOPAL : ‘Aayega tab to istemal karenegen na (I can use it only when I can access it), said Yogendra Maheshwari, a journalist with a Hindi magazine, waiting for his relative at platform number 6 of the Bhopal Railway Station on Friday afternoon.
Exasperated, partly owing to the scalding heat, Yogendra was unsuccessfully trying to connect to the free Wi-Fi launched at the railway station on May 16 for more than half-an-hour “See, its symbol is displaying on the screen but it is not connecting”, he said.
Issues – teething problems, if you may – are plaguing the facility. It is not available on the entire station premises, it takes too long to get logged on and the speed is excruciatingly slow, users told Free Press.
The high-speed free Wi-Fi facility, a part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Digital India project, is being provided by RailTel, a Government of India undertaking, through RailWire platform. RailWire is providing the service through partnering with local cable operators for the last mile connectivity. Its website (railwire.co.in) claims that it provides a minimum of 2 Mbps download speed.
However, the ground situation does not match the claim. Ajay, an 18-year-old engineering student, who was struggling to WhatsApp some files, said the speed was only 100 Kbps, down from 600 Kbps a couple of days back.
Manak Yadav, who was sitting at a corner of platform number 1 claimed that the speed was still lower – 50 Kbps. This means that downloading a 12 MB file would exhaust the 30 minute cap on the facililty. “Normally, I use it for downloading mp3 files and mobile OS updates”, he said.
“In beginning, the speed was good but now it’s poor. I generally use it for checking train timings and reservation availability. I’m trying to connect for the past one hour. The facility is good but ‘zarurat padne per kam nahi aati’ (It doesn’t work when needed),” said 40-year-old Anil Dhurik, a railway employee.
Similarly, 19 year-old BBA student Kush Khatri, who mans the AH Wheeler & Company Pvt Ltd book stall on platform number 1, says, “To connect to the network we have to first sign in and give our mobile number. Then an OTP is sent through SMS. We get access after entering the OTP”.
25-year-old Surendra Kumar, from Jaipur was waiting for his train in the waiting room on platform number 1, was, however, an exception. He had no complaints. “Yes, it is working and the speed is 2 Mbps. Normally I use it for to watch YouTube and search Indian railways site.”
Veena Pandey, a PG student, said that the facility cannot be accessed from platform number 6. “It works on platform numbers one to five but not on the newly built platform number six. And the speed is very poor.
‘It is available on all platforms’
IA Siddiqui, PRO of the Bhopal DRM office said, “The facility is available at all platforms of Bhopal railway station for all passengers round the clock. We are soon going to extend it to Habibganj.
