Railways roll out entertainment on Shatabdis

• Those passengers who boarded the Chandigarh-Delhi Shatabdi Express on Thursday morning were in for a surprise.
• At the back of every seat was a slick touchscreen entertainment unit, a facility that Indian passengers currently enjoy mostly on aircraft.
• All those boarding the Shatabdi Express in areas under the Northern Railway are in for infotainment on wheels. Passengers can watch films and television serials directly via satellite on these entertainment units.
• The passenger will be spoilt for choice as there are blockbusters, classics, reality shows, music and games that one can choose from.
• It’s a commercial publicity model for which we will charge a 20 per cent licence fee from the advertisers,” Neeraj Sharma, chief public relations officer, Northern Railway, said.
• The Railways will earn Rs 1 crore per train in five years, the official said.
• A ‘live TV’ section is also a part of the format, which will ensure that the passengers on long journeys can follow all major sporting events live. News channels too would be introduced soon, an official said
• Railway neither charge any extra money from the passengers nor will invest anything into it.
• In this year’s budget, there was a 60 per cent increase in the allocation of funds for passenger amenities.
• The entertainment units have been installed only on those Shatabdis that have LHB coaches.
• The facility is currently available only on a few trains and will be seen in all trains by the end of this financial year,” G M Singh, senior divisional commercial manager, Northern Railway, said.
• The Railways will not be providing the passengers with headphones as of now. However, these will soon be available on a rent of Rs 20 per journey. “The passengers can use their own to avoid any infection,” Singh said.

Source:-
Railways roll out entertainment on Shatabdis