‘ER’s passenger revenue increased to Rs 300.35 crore in April this year’

Kolkata: Eastern Railway’s (ER) passenger revenue has increased to Rs 300.35 crore in April this year compared to Rs 268.46 crore earned in the same period last year, thus registering an increase of 11.88 per cent.

The ER authorities stated that the increase in revenue was due to increasing popularity of Eastern Railway trains running in various directions, including summer special trains as well as increase in popularity of EMU locals as a mode of suburban transport substituting the road transport.

They have also introduced a passenger friendly provision for purchasing Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS) tickets and the short journey tickets for travelling in local trains. Automatic Ticket Vending Machines (ATVMs) and UTS on Mobile App facilitated the passengers to purchase their journey tickets without standing in long queues at the ticket counters.

However, instead of such extended facilities of purchasing journey tickets, a group of people are still continuing the practice of free tripping, ER stated. In April 2024, Eastern Railway detected 1.863 lakh cases of ticketless travellers or travelling with unbooked luggage, compared to 1.721 lakh cases apprehended in April 2023.

“The main motive of conducting such ticket checking drives is not to generate revenue for Railways by imposing fines but to create awareness among the people about the perils of ticketless travelling. Eastern Railway requests everybody to purchase a ticket which is very very cheap and affordable to them compared to any other mode of transport. Purchasing a ticket will help Railways to provide even better amenities for the passengers,” ER authorities stated.