Railway fined ticketless travellers over Rs 70 million

12 Jun 2024 CW Team

The vast suburban network operator, Eastern Railway (ER), has advised commuters to stop travelling without legal tickets after raids resulted in the collection of fines over Rs 70 million in just May. It comes to around Rs 2.5 million a day. During this time, up to 1.8 million individuals were detained for travelling without legal tickets. Officials stated that there may have been many more people who were able to trick the ticket-checking employees; thus, this could just be the tip of the iceberg. The ER's four divisions' records show that the total amount of fines collected in May was Rs 75 million. At Rs 24 million, the Howrah Division contributed the most. The Sealdah Division came next, at Rs17 million. Rail travel continues to remain the cheapest and most convenient mode of travel, Kausik Mitra, CPRO of Eastern Railway, said. He stated that they have been trying to highlight to commuters that they would have to pay at least 6-7 times more if they travelled by road. Mitra gave the example of the 20-kilometre journey between Howrah and Srirampur, explaining that the suburban train fare is a mere Rs 5 and the travel time is barely 30 minutes, while a bus journey would cost about Rs 40 and take more than an hour in the tremendous heat, and that too if the roads are relatively clear of traffic jams. Mitra also highlighted how people no longer have to queue up at the booking counters for tickets. He stated that those with smart phones can simply download the UTS App and book unreserved tickets online, and they can also scan QR codes displayed at all the stations to book tickets. Therefore, he said, the excuse that a person was in a hurry no longer counts. Additionally, Mitra mentioned that automatic ticket vending machines (ATVMs) have been installed at all important suburban stations. He added that at many locations, retired railway staff have been employed on a contractual basis to operate these machines for the assistance of those not familiar with their functioning.

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