Railways to launch Blue-Fi facility at Bangalore City

A fortnight from now, when you enter the Bangalore City Railway Station and the your mobile phone Bluetooth is enabled, don't be surprised to receive a host of information, including details of arrival and departure of trains, downloadable games, wallpapers and so on.

The Bangalore Division of the South Western Railway (SWR) is all set to launch Blue-Fi, a combination of Bluetooth application as well as Wi-Fi connectivity at the station, facilitated by RailTel Corporation of India, the Railway Ministry's telecom arm.

Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) Sudhanshu Mani told The Hindu that Blue-Fi was one of SWR's several initiatives to enhance passenger comfort. The facility is free for passengers while the Railways plans to get revenue through advertisement.

A first for railways

While a private company is already providing Wi-Fi connectivity at the Mysore Railway Station, the Bluetooth facility is a first for Indian Railways, said K. Manohar Raja, General Manager, RailTel, Bangalore. He told The Hindu that the entire City Station — from Platform 1 to 10 — will be covered by the Blue-Fi network.

Passengers can access unlimited data for free through Bluetooth as data transfer takes place very quickly. For Wi-Fi, however, the passenger has to send an SMS to a number to be specified to get the password. Using the password, the passenger can surf for half an hour. To continue, another SMS needs to be sent.

User details

“As of now, RailTel has not contemplated a user fee for Wi-Fi after the first half-hour,” Mr. Raja said. The Wi-Fi facility is similar to that at Bengaluru International Airport. RailTel is working with mobile service providers to access details about Wi-Fi users to prevent misuse.

Passengers can access even the railway portal through ‘139' and get a host of information, including PNR status, arrival and departure of trains and train running information. Information on facilities available at the station will also be available.

The Bluetooth application is similar to that available in some of the posh malls in the city, Mr. Raja said.