Rise in ticketless travellers in Mumbai; over 14,000 fined in 5 days: CR

As local train services resumed for fully vaccinated passengers last week, the Central Railway (CR) has witnessed a rise in the number of passengers travelling without tickets

As local train services resumed for fully vaccinated passengers last week, the Central Railway (CR) has witnessed a rise in the number of passengers travelling without tickets. Between August 15 and August 20, 14,090 commuters travelling without tickets were fined by the Central Railway officials including ticket checkers and Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel. On average, nearly 2,300 passengers are fined for travelling without tickets daily.

On Friday, 2692 passengers were found travelling ticketless on the suburban railway stations and a fine of ₹8.5 lakh was recovered from them. (HT PHOTO)

On Friday, 2692 passengers were found travelling ticketless on the suburban railway stations and a fine of ₹8.5 lakh was recovered from them.

Ticket checking inspectors along with commercial staff on Friday also conducted surprise checks at Thane and Wadala railway stations. 667 passengers were found travelling without tickets; 332 at Thane and 335 at Wadala railway station.

Earlier, between August 10 to August 14, on the suburban railway, 12,900 passengers were detained by the railway authorities for travelling without a valid ticket.

“We are conducting extensive inspections of tickets and are undertaking surprise and fortress checks. Under fortress checks, the entire railway station has ticket-checkers deployed at the platform and entry and exit of the stations. We undertook a fortress check at Thane and Wadala railway station on Friday. We request passengers to travel with a valid ticket to avoid inconvenience.” said a senior Central Railway official.

Passenger associations have stated that the people who are detained for travelling without tickets are not fully vaccinated and they are travelling to manage their livelihood. The association has asked the Maharashtra government to consider allowing people who have taken one dose of the coronavirus vaccine. “It is a matter of the livelihood of people. The people who are being detained without tickets are the ones who have not been fully vaccinated. The Maharashtra government should allow people who have taken one dose of the vaccine to travel by local trains.” said Subhash Gupta, president, Rail Yatri Parishad.

General commuters who are fully vaccinated were allowed to travel by local train after four months on August 15. Train services were suspended for the general public on April 15 due to the rise in coronavirus cases in the city.