02 April,2024 09:27 AM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
AC local train/ File Photo
Nearly, 30,000 commuters on Monday bought tickets for air-conditioned local trains, said officials from Western Railway. The officials also said that over 3000 passengers availed of season tickets for AC locals on April 1.
AC local ticket sale
According to the data provided by the Western Railway, on Monday, as many as 3,561 persons availed of season tickets for AC locals.
Season tickets--issued for suburban as well as non-suburban sections--allow a passenger to travel unlimited in a stipulated period. The railways offer monthly and quarterly season tickets.
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The season tickets are issued for First and Second classes and are valid in the class for which they are issued. Furthermore, those holding first-class season tickets are not allowed to travel in air-conditioned locals.
The data further showed that nearly 23,623 persons had bought journey tickets for AC locals which took the total number of tickets bought to 27,184.
Meanwhile, the recorded ridership of AC locals on the Western line on April 1 stood at 2,39, 097. The WR has 96 AC local services running during the week while on weekends only 53 services of the locals are operated.
Western Railway's Batman squad
Recently, the WR has begun posting all-night-ticket-checking squads also known as the Batman squad in an attempt to increase vigil and curb nuisance of ticketless or unauthorised travelling during the night hours.
The squad members, per an earlier mid-day report, had apprehended over 2,300 ticketless travellers and detected other cases in the first two nights since the initiative began on March 11. The squad in those two days had collected a fine of almost Rs 6.30 lakh.
'Batman' stands for Be Aware TTE Manning At Night, WR's CPRO Sumit Thakur had previously said.
Reportedly, the 'Batman' unit is specifically trained to operate at night. These ticket-checkers' responsibilities include inspecting trains and checking for any signs of trouble or suspicious activities. This program was aimed to dissuade commuters from travelling without a ticket or in higher class, particularly at night.