Mumbai: In a special ticket-checking 'fortress' drive conducted by the Central Railway during the peak morning hours at Byculla Railway Station, authorities caught over 400 ticketless passengers, collecting a whopping fine of over Rs 1.20 lakh.
According to the update shared by DRM Central Railway, the drive was held on Saturday, March 28, during the morning peak hours. During the intensive checking operation, "511 ticketless passengers were caught, and a Rs 126220/- penalty was imposed."
Social Media Reaction
Users on social media reacted by calling for more frequent and stricter ticket checks, especially in first-class compartments. Many said inspections are too rare, allowing people to avoid buying tickets and only pay occasional fines. Some suggested deploying more ticket checkers at major stations and increasing penalties to discourage ticketless travel.
"Pls have such drives conducted regularly in first-class compartments," a user said.
Some other user said, "Regular and sustained checking is needed to instil fear in the minds of commuters. People find it cheaper to pay a fine once in 4-5 months than buy a ticket daily..on harbour line I have not seen a checking-in running train for the last 3-4 years."
"Good one, I feel that every major railway station should deploy 2 TC now. A lot of people are travelling with FC and AC tickets. They should increase the penalty to 2000 Rs. So that people should have in mind before travelling without tickets," a commuter said.
Another user questioned why checking is labelled "special" instead of being a regular practice and said," checking? Why don't we check regularly? Especially in first class compartments, TC's never check.'
