ER bags first position in suburban traffic, earnings

Kolkata: Eastern Railway has secured the first position, both in suburban passenger traffic and also for earnings among suburban sections of all the Zones in Indian Railways.

It may be mentioned here that in 2017-18, the Eastern Railway has succeeded in carrying 1,031.48 million suburban passengers, indicating a growth of 3.46 percent over last year.

It has also earned Rs 628.93 crore during 2017-18 from just suburban passenger traffic, registering a growth of 4.20 percent.

Eastern Railway has carried a total of 1,223.15 million passengers during 2017-18, which is 3.29 percent higher than that of the previous year. An earning of Rs 2,668.06 crore was also registered, which is 3.44 percent higher than the amount earned during 2016-17. Eastern Railway has also strengthened ticket checking, helping it to earn extra revenues.

To check ticketless travelling, Eastern Railway has further strengthened ticket checking drives all over its jurisdiction, encompassing all the four Divisions like Howrah, Sealdah, Asansol and Malda.

During the financial year 2017-18, around 24.40 lakh cases were found, in which passengers were fined for travelling without or with improper ticket. The un-booked luggage detected also contributed to the generation of extra revenues.

This is also 11 percent higher than that of last year. Around Rs 48 crore was realised from vigorous ticket checking drives, registering a growth of 21 percent over the last financial year.