Google will set up free high-speed WiFi at 100 railway stations soon

You may be able to watch high definition videos seamlessly while catching a train at the railway station by next year.

Internet search giant Google announced on Wednesday free WiFi being set up across 400 railway stations will be "highly reliable and hi-speed" with speeds higher than what an average internet user gets.

The network is being set up by Google in partnership with the Railways' telecom wing, RailTel and Mumbai Central will be the first station to get the facility.

"The free Wi-Fi will work on the back of fiber already deployed by RailTel and will provide station wide access instead of closing it down to a particular point," Marian Croak, vice president, access strategy and emerging markets, told HT.

The company also hinted there would be no paywalls for the WiFi -- the usual practice for free web networks in airports around the country.

"The first hour will be free and then we will limit the speeds so as to give fair access to other passengers," Gulzar Azad, head of access programs in India.

Marion also clarified that Google will continue improving back-end infrastructure like adding more access points as the traffic on stations increase.

Although Google has not revealed the names of the stations that will follow Mumbai central, it said it was targeting the busiest stations from each of the sixteen zones in the country.

"We are looking at finishing 100 stations by the end of this year with incremental progress every quarter," Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, said during his keynote address. The announcement of Indian Railways collaboration came in just after Chennai-born Pichai was named the CEO of Google.

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