NEW DELHI: The railway ministry, in collaboration with RailTel, will undertake a project to provide free entertainment content on demand for passengers.
According to sources, a request for proposal (RFP) will be issued by RailTel, a miniratna company under the ministry, in the first week of August for the project. The app will allow passengers to stream movies, news and other entertainment content on their devices.
“RailTel will provide preloaded multilingual content including movies, music videos, general entertainment including TV serials and devotional programmes, lifestyle-related among others in moving trains. In case of trains, to ensure buffer-free services, media servers will be placed,” the official said.
“Passengers will be able to enjoy high-quality buffer-free streaming across personal devices and the content will be periodically refreshed,” he added.
The project, which will include preloaded content, will first be implemented on railway stations that already offer free high-speed WiFi service, also provided by RailTel.
Initially, the content will be available at the stations and will, later on, be provided in moving trains. The project will be implemented on a parallel basis with the ministry’s plans to equip 4000 stations with high-speed WiFi.
The national transporter, on an experimental basis, had equipped trains like the Tejas Express and the Anubhuti coaches of Shatabdi Express trains with aircraft-style onboard infotainment.