Mumbai: Western Railway (WR) caught 1,249 passengers travelling ticketless or with irregular tickets in AC locals and collected Rs 4 lakh in fines over two days last week. The drive came amid growing concerns over unauthorised travel in AC locals. On an average, WR detects 215 ticketless passengers on such services daily.
Since the beginning of this financial year, over 17,000 unauthorised commuters have been caught, contributing nearly Rs 50 lakh in fines to the coffers. A senior WR official said last Friday, 413 passengers were penalised for travelling without a valid ticket and 178 for carrying irregular tickets, and the total amount of fines amounted to Rs 2 lakh. The drive continued with equal rigour the following day, with 459 ticketless passengers and 199 with irregular tickets being caught, leading to a recovery of Rs 2 lakh in fines.
Abhishek Bhattacharya, who regularly takes an AC train from Churchgate to Borivli, expressed his frustration at the frequent presence of ticketless travellers. "During the evening peak hour, many passengers, including tourists and families with children, get into the AC train and occupy seats, leaving bona fide passengers standing throughout the journey. It's incredibly frustrating, especially when one has paid for a monthly pass," he said.
He criticised the irregularity of ticket checks . "The checking drives are random. There should be permanent checking either on board or on platforms after commuters alight.
" The absence of ticket checks has affected the quality of travel for many passengers. A school principal who commutes daily from Naigaon to Churchgate said despite holding a monthly pass, she often finds herself unable to board an AC train in the mornings. "There are days when there are no ticket-checkers in first-class coaches or AC trains, and the coaches are packed with ticketless travellers.
" She expressed her dissatisfaction with the complaint redressal system, recalling how she once went to the Churchgate WR office to lodge a formal complaint only to be advised to tweet about the issue. "There should be a proper redressal mechanism. I've been commuting for over 25 years by suburban trains and it's disheartening to see the decline in the quality of service.
" The issue of ticketless travel is not limited to those who forget or choose not to buy tickets. Some have gone to the extent of forging AC tickets to avoid paying the full fare..
