City-Chennai Shatabdi to witness Wi-Fi connectivity

City-Chennai Shatabdi to witness Wi-Fi connectivity
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: The new Bangalore-Chennai Shatabdi Express starting within the next fortnight will have Wi-Fi connectivity.

Business travellers in the Executive Chair Car will be able to sit comfortably, plug in their laptops and connect. What’s more, if they are travelling in groups, they can even sit opposite each other and have the ambience of a virtual office.

This train will also run faster than the present Chennai-Mysore Shatabdi, which takes four hours and forty-five minutes between the city and Chennai.

“This new train will run in approximately four hours,” Divisional Railway Manager Mahesh Kumar announced.

Kumar said in this Jet Age where airlines were competing with Railways, Rail travel would be very innovative and there were plans to add music channels in every seat, a small home theatre in one of the coaches and even a library in future.

As a first step, Wi-Fi connectivity is being offered in 16 seats where four sets of seats will face each other.

The seven-coach train will leave Bangalore at 6 AM and in the return direction leave Chennai at 5.30 PM except Tuesdays.

“This train is being speeded up. It will cover the distance in approximately four hours,” he said.

The train is likely to start from October 15. The date will be announced in the next week, Kumar said.