Fear of getting caught shoots up ticket sales at Andheri, Dadar stations

The crackdown on ticketless travellers in Mumbai has led to a 61% increase in passengers buying valid tickets at Andheri station and a 27% increase at Dadar station. The ticket checking staff caught 4,340 commuters without tickets, generating a total revenue of ₹11.36 lakh in fines. More stations are set to be covered in the coming days.

Mumbai: Last week, after the crackdown on ticketless travellers on the Western Line by the ticket checking (TC) staff at Andheri and Dadar stations, the number of passengers buying valid tickets jumped by 61% and 27%, respectively. The TCs demanded valid tickets and passes at Dadar and Andheri stations with 4,340 commuters caught without tickets, generating a total revenue of ₹ 11.36 lakh from fines at both stations. According to sources in Western Railway (WR), Dadar station, where the first fortress checking took place on September 30 and collected a fine of over ₹4.60 lakh, saw a jump of 27% in passengers purchasing rail tickets for local train journeys, while ticket sales went up by 11%.

HT Image

The situation at Andheri station bore more fruit for the authorities as on October 3, there were 62% more commuters who purchased suburban rail tickets as compared to September 26 (see box).

“We saw a shift in the number of commuters buying tickets either from the ticket windows, ATVMs, or mobile app after the fortress checking has begun. We are glad that the fortified checking by our TCs is working and instilling fear among commuters. More railway stations are under our radar, and our drive shall continue,” said a WR official.

As per the plan, WR officials are sending a team of 200 TCs to a particular pre-decided railway station. During their 8-hour ‘fortress checking,’ all entry and exit points at the station are manned as they stand as a human chain on foot over bridges (FOBs) to catch ticketless commuters.

Over the last few days, TCs have covered the railway stations of Dadar and Andheri. More stations of Bandra, Borivali, Virar, Vasai, Churchgate, etc., are also being covered in the next few days. They will also be moving around inside AC locals and First-Class compartments. At times, a team of 25 TCs will also spread out at eight stations apart from their regular checking.

Sources said there has been an impact of 200 TCs demanding valid tickets and passes at Dadar and Andheri stations with 4,340 commuters caught without tickets, generating a total revenue of ₹ 11.36 lakh from fines.