Mumbai: Railway authorities in Mumbai have recovered nearly Rs 262 crore in penalties from ticketless and irregular passengers across the suburban network during the current financial year, reflecting intensified ticket-checking drives on the city’s lifeline.
According to officials from Central Railway and Western Railway, around Rs 7 crore of the total amount came from fines imposed on passengers travelling without valid tickets in AC local trains over the past year.
On Central Railway, ticket-checking teams in the Mumbai division detected 16.16 lakh cases of irregular travel in suburban, mail and express trains during the 2025–26 financial year. These cases resulted in penalties amounting to Rs 71.31 crore, said CR chief spokesperson Swapnil Nila. The figures represent a 2 per cent rise in cases and a 4 per cent increase in revenue compared with the previous year.
In February alone, Central Railway officials detected about 1.65 lakh cases of irregular travel and collected Rs 8.58 crore in fines.
Meanwhile, Western Railway reported that between April 2025 and February 2026, nearly 30 lakh cases of ticketless or irregular travel were detected, including offences related to unbooked luggage. These checks resulted in the recovery of more than Rs 191 crore in penalties, marking a 42 per cent increase over the same period last year, according to WR chief spokesperson Vineet Abhishek.
During February 2026, Western Railway detected almost three lakh such cases and collected around Rs 18.5 crore in penalties, registering over a 10 per cent increase compared with the previous year.
Western Railway officials said focused surprise checking drives were also carried out on AC suburban trains to prevent unauthorised travel by passengers holding general-class tickets. Between April 2025 and February 2026, more than 1.16 lakh penalty cases were booked in AC local services, leading to the recovery of Rs 3.76 crore, nearly double the amount collected during the same period last year.
Data from Central Railway shows that the largest share of penalties came from second-class coaches, where 11.68 lakh cases resulted in fines of Rs 58.6 crore. First-class coaches accounted for 1.46 lakh cases and Rs 4.66 crore in penalties, while AC local trains saw 1.1 lakh cases leading to Rs 3.51 crore in fines.
Additional penalties included Rs 2.98 crore from 50,809 cases involving fare differences in mail and express trains and Rs 1.56 crore from around 1.4 lakh cases related to unbooked luggage during the April 2025–February 2026 period.
Railway officials said enforcement drives will continue across the suburban network to curb ticketless travel and ensure passengers follow ticketing rules.
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