2.29 Lakh Ticketless Train Travellers Fined

In order to ensure a comfortable and secure travel to bona fide passengers, the South Central Railways undertook a series of regular checks and special drives against ticketless/irregular travel in its jurisdiction, involving 3,000 ticket-checking staff including the Railway Protection Force personnel, during the month of August 2013.

During these checks/drives, the ticket checking staff of SCR detected and penalised 2.29 lakh persons for committing the offence of either ticketless travel or irregular travel or travelling with un-booked luggage. There is reportedly a 20% increase in the total cases detected during August '13, when compared to the cases detected during August 2012.

An amount of Rs. 6.83 cr was realised from these ticketless/irregular travellers towards penalty. The penalty collected from the offenders has also registered an increase of 10.60% over the penalty realised during the August 2012 checks.

During the period April to August 2013, in the current financial year, the SCR detected 10.7 lakh persons committing ticketless/irregular travel, and collected a penalty of Rs. 33.74 cr from them, registering a 9.4% increase in penalty.

According to the SCR, the surprise checks carried out by the flying squads in the divisions and headquarters, helped enhance the effectiveness of the ticket-checking activities at various stations and in trains, that are aimed at curbing the social menace of ticketless and irregular travel. (INN)