Eastern Railway cracks down on ticketless travel, apprehends 1.868 lakh

Kolkata: Eastern Railway (ER) apprehended 1.868 lakh individuals for ticketless travel or for travelling with unbooked luggage in October, marking a 2.1 per cent increase from 1.829 lakh cases in the same month in last year.

To ensure passengers travel with valid tickets and follow the rules the ER conducts regular ticket checking drives, fortress checking, magistrate checks, and special ticket checking trains deployed to reach even remote stations swiftly.

These measures are part of a comprehensive strategy to curb ticketless travel and promote responsible travel practices.

The largest number of ticketless travel cases were reported in the Howrah Division, with 81,000 instances detected.

In the Sealdah Division, nearly 65,300 cases were recorded, while the Asansol Division saw around 31,100 cases.

The Malda Division reported 9,300 cases of fare evasion.

To tackle fare evasion, ER continues to carry out frequent and random ticket-checking operations.

Authorities are also working to raise awareness among passengers about the importance of travelling with a valid ticket.

A spokesperson for Eastern Railway emphasised the financial implications of fare evasion: “If the ticket fare is Rs. 5, passengers travelling without a valid journey ticket will have to pay a fine of Rs. 250 in addition to the valid fare for their journey. We urge passengers to travel with dignity with a valid ticket and avoid penalties.”