Limiting yourself to books and archaic games like antakshari to pass the time on long train journeys will soon be a thing of the past. Courtesy of the Indian government’s mission to empower the country digitally, all Indian railway stations will be equipped with free Wi-Fi facilities by March 2019. An initiative that will rack up a bill of Rs. 700 crore, the project promises to furnish 8,500 railway stations all over the country.

“Internet access has now become an important requirement in day-to-day working, and we shall be providing this facility at all railway stations in the country,” said a senior Railway Ministry official, speaking to Economic Times. Not only will this plan enable urban travellers to while away hours during transit but will also empower citizens of rural India. How? Services like digital banking, Aadhaar generation, issuing government certificates, filing taxes and paying bills will be at their disposal with kiosks at 7,300 railways stations acting as Wi-Fi hotspots.

That’s not all! The railway and telecom ministry deserve exceptional credit for working out a way to link e-commerce with the said kiosks. Locals can make use of the kiosks to order and receive goods from e-commerce portals, which in the long run could potentially uplift their lifestyle.“These kiosks will be operated at stations with private participation for the local population,” said the official. “The modalities of setting up such digital hot spots are being worked out with the Telecom Ministry,” he added.

Although it is refreshing to see the good intentions of the Indian government - we hope they make good on these plans with lightning fast speed.