KOLKATA: Howrah station has become the first in the eastern part of the country to be Wi-Fi enabled. On Saturday, railway minister Suresh Prabhu introduced the service from Kolkata and announced that all major stations in the country will get Wi-Fi enabled within the next 2-3 hours. Important trains will also get Wi-Fi enabled. At present, only the Kolkata Rajdhani that runs between Howrah and New Delhi is Wi-Fi enabled. Banglaore station became the first in the country to have a Wi-Fi network in October, 2014. Till March 15 this year, seven stations in the country had Wi-Fi facilities.

Prabhu in his railway budget had promised Wi-Fi services at 400 stations across the country. According to an Eastern Railway official, Wi-Fi services at Howrah will be free for the time being. A system to charge users after a period of free usage will be worked out later, he said. At stations like Bangalore, passengers can use Wi-Fi services free for 30 minutes. After that, they have to purchase scratch cards from a designated kiosk to avail the services.

Prabhu, while highlighting efforts to provide better security to passengers, particularly women commuters, said that a mobile App will soon be introduced in Kolkata for women. The App is already operational in Mumbai. Those using it will only have to press a key on her phone to alert the authorities.

"This is a free App that has to be downloaded. Before every journey, the user must register with the details of her originating station and destination. In case of an emergency, she will just need to press a key on her mobile. An automatic alert will reach a number of a friend or relative that she had earlier registered as well as the police. Her location will immediately be traced using GPS and the police will be waiting at the next station to assist her. We shall try to introduce this App in Kolkata as soon as possible. We are also making all efforts to amend the RPF Act to give more powers to the Railway Protection Force (RPF) to ensure passenger security. We are also trying to make best use of technology to improve security on trains and stations," Prabhu said.

According to Eastern Railway general manager R K Gupta, the Howrah and Sealdah stations will get 200 sophisticated CCTV cameras soon. These cameras, with capabilities to capture images in a 360 degrees axis, will be part of the Integrated Security System planned by the Indian Railways. The tendering process is likely to be completed by the end of this month, he said.