Mumbai, Feb 11 (PTI) People travelling in Mumbai's suburban local trains can now watch movies, TV shows and educational programmes for free during their commute with the launch of a new "content on demand" infotainment service by the Central Railway (CR) on Friday.

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As per a release, the Central Railway has joined hands with M/s Margo Network Pvt Ltd to provide this “content on demand” infotainment service through SugarBox Network's mobile application.

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The CR enabled the service in the presence of general manager Anil Kumar Lahoti on 10 out of 165 suburban local trains, it was stated.

Commuters will have to download the Sugar Box application on their devices, following which they will receive an OTP on entering their mobile number, before accessing the free infotainment content, the release stated.

No internet connection will be required and people don't have to pay any charge for data consumption, the CR said.

The company has registered the application on 10 suburban locals and will cover the remaining local trains soon, Lahoti said.

The service for 165 suburban trains will fetch the CR Rs 8.17 crore in five years, he said.

The CR has earned Rs 22.57 crore by way of non-fare revenue from April to January 2021-22, which was 295 per cent more than the same period last year, the official said.

“This was a win-win for passengers, the railways and the service provider,” the CR's chief spokesperson Shivaji Sutar said.

The service provider has installed a device in each coach and the work for installing it on other suburban locals was underway.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)