Thousands of passengers at railway stations in Shanghai are operating their smartphones and other Internet devices on a Wi-Fi network developed by a US-based company.

The system installed by Sunnyvale, California-based Ruckus Wireless Inc went live on Monday at eight stations in China's largest city, covering an area of 400,000 square meters.

The Shanghai Railway Bureau, which is in charge of railways in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui and Zhejiang provinces, selected Ruckus to install its technology.

The stations will use the Ruckus technology with the bureau's new i-station technology, which provides updated train departure and arrival schedules for its more than 110,000 registered users.

"With i-station and Ruckus, we're delivering a great package of user-friendly travel services," Wang Bo, a system architect who deployed Ruckus's technology, said in a statement. "We really needed the kind of reliable, high-performance wireless network infrastructure that Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi provides, not only to provide passengers with convenient Internet access station-wide," but to empower them to travel more confidently, he said.

David Callish, vice-president of marketing at Ruckus, said the company's technology lets commuters connect to the Internet, and the railway bureau to better gauge the flow of commuters at a particular station because users will tell transport authorities how long they are at a station and whether they are returning commuters. "This will ultimately make trains run better and faster, and in a more efficient manner," he said.

Founded in 2004, Ruckus Wireless began operating in China in 2009. The company has offices in Beijing and Hong Kong. Its partnership with the Shanghai Railway Bureau is its first in China, Callisch said.

He told China Daily that the transportation system in the world's most populous country is a "hot bed" for Wi-Fi use.

"There is an emerging need for Wi-Fi connectivity" as companies and industries rely on it to better learn about their customers, Callisch said.

Ruckus's technology is being used at these stations: Shanghai, Shanghai South, Shanghai Hongqiao, Hangzhou, Hangzhou East, Nanjing, Nanjing South and Hefei .

The Shanghai Railway Bureau, founded in 1949, is an affiliate of China's Ministry of Railways. It owns and operates the longest railway lines in the country. The bureau oversees more than 500 stations and manages over 11,000 kilometers of railways.

amyhe@chinadailyusa.com