Ticketless travel statistics are a matter of shame

Mumbai alone has earned about Rs 150 crore in fines. File pic

Ticketless passengers on Central and Western Railway have ended up paying over Rs 450 crore in fines in a year, and the numbers seem to be in the ascendant.

Central Railway (CR) alone has earned over Rs 300 crore from 46.32 lakh cases of ticketless travel in a year. The CR Mumbai division has collected Rs 108.25 crore from 19.57 lakh such cases. This is the first time that any zonal railway has reached this milestone, said the CR spokesperson in a report, but we think it is a landmark which should shame us, as a people.

Ticket checking drives on Western Railway (WR), meanwhile, have seen an amount to the tune of Rs 158.28 crore being recovered of which the Mumbai suburban section accounted for Rs 39.99 crore. This includes a total of 23.70 lakh ticketless/irregular passengers and unbooked luggage cases.

Also Read: Mumbai: How you helped the railways earn Rs 450 cr

We must bring these figures down and ensure that Mumbai accounts for fewer violations. The commuting rush that is always witnessed in the metropolis cannot be an excuse for these disgraceful statistics.

Buy tickets or passes and book your luggage. You may get away with not doing so; these drives, however, show it this getting tougher. That aside, if you travel without a ticket you are a cheat, plain and simple.

Railways must carry out more awareness drives to clamp down on ticketless travel, unauthorised posters on platforms, etc. Travellers need to be guided by a sense of what is right and wrong, and this should be ingrained in them and not stem from fear of the law.

Ticketless travel takes a toll on the railway services. When one does that, it also takes away your right to demand better service from the Railways.