mumbai

Updated: Jul 23, 2017 17:15 IST

Free WiFi access at suburban railway stations in the city has become a headache for railway authorities, with non-commuters and miscreants using the facility to watch porn during the night.

“We have received complaints that the WiFi on stations is being used for wrong reasons,” said Aarti Singh Parihar, Senior Division Commercial Manager, Western Railway. “Frequent complaints have been received particularly at Mumbai Central station.”

Railway officials now plan to urge RailTel, the agency providing the service, to shut the WiFi after midnight or after the last suburban train departs from the stations. “The department will be approaching RailTel regarding this,” said Parihar.

They also plan to ask RailTel to devise methods to prevent misuse of the facility at stations from where outstation trains depart. “Several non-commuters are found inside stations using the free WiFi to watch porn. The Railway Protection Force (RPF) drives them out, but they somehow manage to sneak in again,” said a railway official.

Recently, 19 stations were provided with the facility. These include Mumbai Central, Chembur, Ghatkopar, Kurla, Thane, Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT), Bandra Terminus, Vashi, Kalyan, Panvel, Borivli, Churchgate, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Byculla, Khar Road, Dadar (Central Railway), Dadar (Western Railway), Andheri and Bandra.