Western Railway Sets New Benchmark In Ticket Checking With ₹150.86 Crore In Fines, Surpasses Non-Fare Revenue Target In FY 2024–25

Mumbai: Western Railway (WR) has achieved a remarkable milestone in the financial year 2024–25, collecting a record-breaking Rs 150.86 crore in fines through intensive ticket-checking drives. This achievement not only underscores WR's commitment to curbing ticketless travel but also highlights its strong performance in the Non-Fare Revenue (NFR) segment.

According to officials, WR now ranks second among all zones of Indian Railways in terms of Non-Fare Revenue generation—a significant indicator of efficient resource utilization and commercial innovation.

"During 2024–25, Western Railway detected a total of 25.17 lakh cases of ticketless and irregular travel, including unbooked luggage cases, resulting in a record-breaking fine of Rs150.86 crore through ticket checking drives" said an official.

According to Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railway, Vineet Abhishek, maintaining this momentum, the month of March 2025 alone saw the detection of 2.72 lakh cases, generating ₹16.57 crore as fines. This consistent performance underscores Western Railway’s commitment to safeguarding the interests of genuine passengers while curbing ticketless travel.

In a passenger-friendly move aimed at enhancing onboard comfort and reducing overcrowding in reserved compartments, Western Railway implemented a key policy shift in June 2024. Instead of penalizing irregular passengers up to their destination, they are now charged only up to the point of detection and are promptly de-boarded.

This approach has helped ensure a more comfortable and seamless journey for reserved ticket holders. To further strengthen enforcement, special intensive ticket checking drives are conducted during weekends and festive periods, ensuring greater compliance and reinforcing passenger discipline across the network.

The tireless efforts of Western Railway’s ticket checking team has also significantly contributed to this achievement C.K Sinha, Dy. Chief Ticketing Inspector (Dy.CTI) from Surat achieved the impressive milestone of detecting 10,682 cases and collecting Rs 74.87 Lakhs as penalties from travelers traveling without proper tickets and carrying unbooked luggage.

The other top performing staff include Laxman Kumar, Dy. CTI, Borivali for detecting 10,603 cases & realizing fines of approx. Rs 67.36 Lakhs and Ashutosh Kumar Singh, Dy.CTI, Headquarters who detected 6,687 cases & realizing an amount of Rs 66.13 Lakhs in fines. Over Mumbai Suburban section, approx. 11 lakh cases were detected and Rs 47.43 crores were realized as fines in FY 2024-25.

Vineet further added that surprise ticket checking efforts are being made frequently in AC local trains to prevent unauthorized entry of general tickets holders in these trains. As a result, during the period from April 2024 to March 2025, approx. 65,000 penalty cases were detected and Rs 209.52 Lakhs was collected in fines.

Besides this, Western Railway stands second over Indian Railways in Non-Fare Revenue (NFR) performance. The Railway surpassed its NFR targets by achieving revenue of Rs 112.17 Cr during the FY 2024-25 against the given target of Rs 105 Cr.

This is almost 7% higher than the target and 11.27% more than last year’s revenue of Rs 100.81 Cr. Innovative NFR initiatives such as Restaurant on Wheels, advertisements through digital AI kiosks, Battery Operated Carts, Gaming Zone with Relaxation Units, Porter On Call, etc. have led to this magnanimous achievement.