Dera Baba Nanak railway station leading to Kartarpur Sahib gets free Wi-Fi connection

Pilgrims on their way to Kartarpur Sahib through Dera Baba Nanak railway station will now be able to avail free Wi-Fi services introduced by RailTel.

The station, not far from the new international checkpost on the Indian side of the border, leads to Kartarpur Sahib.

The free Wi-Fi can be used inside the railway station premises by anyone who has a smart phone with a working connection for KYC consideration.

Sultanpur Lodhi station, which sees a rush of pilgrims visiting Dera Baba Nanak, has also been provided with Wi-Fi.

"RailTel, a Miniratna PSU of Indian Railways, has provided Railwire Wi-Fi at the historic Dera Baba Nanak Railway station, Punjab, to enable the pilgrims to use fast Wi-Fi services as an amenity. The Kartarpur Corridor Project was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 9, 2019. This has caused more people to use the station for commuting. Free Wi-Fi at this station is proving to be a boon for the passengers," a statement from RailTel said.

This is part of the railways' plans to turn stations into free Wi-Fi zones. As of now, it has provided free Wi-Fi at over 5,300 railway stations across the country.

RailTel was also entrusted by NIC to deliver 8 Mbps bandwidth at Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Dera Baba Nanak, Gurdaspur under the Kartarpur Corridor project, the statement said.

This leased line connectivity shall enable the ICP for authentication of travellers' identity at the Immigration Check Post (ICP) and Foreigners Registration Offices (FROs) through the use of intelligent documents scanners and biometrics, updation of foreigners' details at entry and exit points.

This leased line connectivity has been done within a record time of 15 days.

"This was a very challenging project for RailTel as the time period given was very short and due to bad weather the work was hampered for couple of days. RailTel had to erect two 30-meter-tall towers for radio link to provide seamless connectivity as Dera Baba Nanak is at a distance of 49 km for which repeater had to be provided for connectivity to the farthest / remotest point in Punjab near International Border," the statement said.