Bhubaneswar, Dec. 23: Waiting for a train at the city railway station will not be boring any more.

By the end of January, passengers at Bhubaneswar railway station will be able to access free Internet facility, with the station set to be upgraded into a Wi-Fi zone.

Bhubaneswar is among the 28 railway stations under the East Coast Railway (ECoR) that would get Wi-Fi facility in a phased manner.

Railway officials said that users could use the free broadband Internet service for 30 minutes, after which it will become chargeable.

The free Internet service would cover all the six platforms, waiting rooms and dormitories at the station.

Cuttack, Sambalpur, Balasore, Bhadrak, Khurda Road and Jajpur-Keonjhar Road are the other stations in the state that would be upgraded to Wi-Fi zones.

Central public sector unit RailTel and Internet major Google, through a tie-up, are working on a project to provide high-speed Internet connectivity to 500 major railway stations across the country.

In the first phase, the project would cover 100 stations, including Bhubaneswar.

The approximate project cost for each major station such as Bhubaneswar has been worked out to be Rs 30 lakh.

Railway officials said that the work of laying optical fibres for the Wi-Fi service at the city station was complete.

"The remaining work of installation of other equipment, including modems, will be completed in a month," said a railway official.

"The work for Bhubaneswar railway station will be covered by RailTel. We have been continuously monitoring the progress of the work. The Internet service would be commissioned by the end of January next year," said chief signal and telecom engineer of ECoR S.H. Safdar.

Railway officials said that more than 10 lakh passengers depend on the city railway station every month. More than 120 trains originate or pass through the railway station every day.

"Keeping an eye on the growth of passengers at the station, which stood at five per cent between April and September of the current (2015-16) fiscal, Internet has become a necessity for the passengers," said a railway official.

The city already has free Wi-Fi service at Surya Nagar, on the road connecting Siripur Square to Ganga Nagar, the area near BMC Bhawani Mall, in and around Forest Park and Imfa Park in Saheed Nagar, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Park at Satsang Vihar and on the Utkal University campus.

At these places, users can avail free Internet for 30 minutes, after which it is chargeable.

Passengers said that they were eagerly waiting for the service to be launched at the city railway station.

"The free Wi-Fi service will be extremely helpful for us while waiting for trains at the station. At present, there is no other means for us to keep busy at the station and most often passengers get bored while waiting for trains," said Manas Jena, a passenger.

Since July 1, the Sun Temple in Konark is among the five major heritage monuments in the country that has been converted into a Wi-Fi zone.

Wi-Fi connectivity is also available in areas near the Singha Dwar of the Jagannath temple in Puri.