Rail passengers may soon use laptops in trains

NEW DELHI: Passengers will soon be able to use their laptops in running trains as Indian Railways is mulling over a proposal to provide satellite-based internet facility in premier trains.

A trial run is already underway in Mumbai-Ahmedabad Shatabdi Express and our aim is to provide the internet facility in certain premium trains including Rajdhani and Shatabdi, said a senior Railways ministry official.

Besides internet, a plan is also afoot to introduce onboard audio and video entertainment system for passengers during the train journey.

"Efforts are on to provide DTH services to onboard passengers and trials for this are under way," said the official.

Termed as value addition to passenger amenities, railways is keen to establish High Speed Internet Corridor along all routes to provide internet, IPTV and other entertainment and utility services in trains.

All these steps are being undertaken to provide better facilities to railway passengers, said the official.

As the telecom front is constantly changing due to rapid technological advancements, railways is gearing up to extend more secure and high reliability solutions providing huge bandwidth for various data and voice applications.

"Telecommunication is going to play a very vital role in train operations and will almost be like an invisible track along with the physical track on which trains will run," said the official adding, "it would not be possible to operate railway system without a robust telecom system providing reliable, high capacity and secure communication."

Indian Railways have established its own state-of-the-art satellite-based V-SAT hub system in the capital, which is considered the best option for providing reliable connectivity for freight operation information system (FOIS) at remote locations where freight loading takes place.

It has already connected over 200 remote locations of FOIS and more stations are to be linked soon, said the official.

V-SAT system can be also be used for online reservation in running trains, train operation and maintenance activities.

V-SAT terminal will help in establishing communication at accident sites withing 20 minutes, said the official.

For the convenience of passengers, railways have improved its communications system by providing train and coach position indicators at important stations.