Mumbai: Western Railway conducts ticket checking drives in AC locals, 61 cases reported

AC local train. File Pic

The Western Railway (WR) on Tuesday said that it has been conducting regular ticket checking drives in trains including Mumbai AC locals to keep a check on unauthorised travelling.

The Mumbai Division of WR has accomplished a remarkable feat by recovering Rs 79.48 crore in fines with the detection of 12.57 lakh cases during such checking drives conducted in the period from April 2022 to March 2023, the WR said.

"This is the best ever ticket checking performance of the Division. A special ticket checking drive is also being conducted in AC locals," the WR said.

The WR said, recently, a surprise ticket-checking drive was carried out in AC local trains under the supervision of Sr. Divisional Commercial Manager (Mumbai Division) on April 15, 2023. The surprise checks were carried out in four different AC local services between Churchgate and Virar. 61 cases of travelling without ticket and 21 cases of higher travel were detected by the team and Rs. 32,425 was collected as fines from the passengers. It is pertinent to mention that till April 17, 2023, more than 3300 cases of irregular travel in AC locals have been detected.

According to a press release issued by Sumit Thakur - Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railway, Mumbai Division of WR has created history and achieved a landmark milestone by netting an amount of Rs. 79.48 Cr in Ticket Checking fines during the intensive checking drives conducted in FY 2022-23. It is a milestone feat as it is more than the target set for the Year 2022- 2023 of Rs.74.73 Cr, with an increase of 6.35 per cent in terms of the amount.

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In a statement, the WR said, In recognition of the performance of the ticket checking staff over Mumbai Division, 31 staff were felicitated with merit certificates and cash awards. Out of the 31 recipients, Laxman Kumar - Dy. Chief Ticketing Inspector (Dy.CTI) from Surat has achieved the impressive milestone of detecting 13,088 cases and collected Rs.92.47 lakhs as penalties from travelers traveling without proper tickets and carrying unbooked luggage. The other meritorious staff included Amresh Paswan, Dy. Chief Ticketing Inspector (Dy.CTI) from Surat who detected 11,001 cases and collected fines of approx. Rs.88.73 lakhs and L.S. Tiwari, Dy. Chief Ticketing Inspector (Dy.CTI) from Borivali detected 10,072 cases of an amount of Rs.70.35 lakhs in fines. The performance of all the staff has been noteworthy and has played a crucial role in achieving this outstanding ticket checking performance.

"Western Railway appeals to the general public to travel with proper and valid tickets through manual ticket counters and from digital online tickets through UTS app, ATVM machines, etc. as well as carry valid identity cards in order to avoid inconvenience," the WR said.