Bhubaneswar, April 17 (IANS): Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on Sunday launched free Wi-Fi service at Bhubaneswar railway station here.

After Mumbai Central in January, the Bhubaneswar station is the second in the country to have been covered under Google's free Wi-Fi project this year.

The minister said the high-speed internet service will benefit the passengers as they can surf the net while waiting for their trains.

He said the ministry is committed to providing better internet facilities to the passengers at 100 busiest stations in the country by this year-end.

Notably, Google and RailTel have collaborated to make Wi-Fi network available across 100 stations under the Digital India initiative.

Maintaining that Narendra Modi government has provided more allocation to Odisha under railway budget, Prabhu said a joint venture company would be formed between the state government and the railways to develop several rail projects in the state.

Announcing that the railways would connect every part of Odisha, he said the rail work in Left-extremism affected areas would start soon.

RailTel CMD R.K. Bahuguna said Wi-Fi service would also be provided at Cuttack and Puri railway stations while arrangements are also being made to enable Wi-Fi service at Puri railway station before the Rath Yatra in July this year.