Passengers want cyber cafes back in Chennai Central

Despite the penetration of smartphones, a considerable number of passengers, including the public, stepping into this railway station are still in need of net services. “The main handicap for the passengers is the absence of internet cafés in the vicinity and mainly passengers on business visits are the worst-hit,” Captain S Deepak, a merchant navy professional told DT Next at the Chennai Central. 

According to him, passengers, who are unaware of the absence of cyber cafés in the vicinity of Chennai Central, have to hire a vehicle to go in search of the Internet kiosks. “Even now several passengers are in need of services like scanning and printing for which internet cafés are essential,” he said. 

When enquired railway officials said that ever since the railways started accepting SMS or e-mail as tickets in 2012, patronage for cyber cafés in stations drastically came down. “RailTel decided to close down the facilities as it was not feasible to operate the cafés,” an official said. 

A cross section of passengers told DT Next that the railway authorities should invite private players to run this service. “Even if that is not possible, steps should be taken to set up cyber cafés near the Central,” a passenger said.