South Western Railway collects highest-ever fines from over 6 lakh passenger in 9 months

The South Western Railway penalised 6.27 lakh passengers between April 1, 2023, and December 31, 2023, earning a heft fine of Rs 46.31 crore.

The South Western Railway (SWR) reported that, between April 1, 2023, and December 31, 2023, it successfully detected and penalised 6.27 lakh occurrences of ticketless travel, earning a hefty fine of Rs 46.31 crore in the process. This was a noteworthy move against ticketless travel. Leading the way was SWR's Bengaluru division, which filed 3.68 lakh complaints and collected fines totaling Rs 28.26 crore.

The SWR emphasised its resolve to reduce travel without a ticket, noting a 9.95% rise in fines over the same time last year. The fines collected during this period are reportedly the largest since the South Western Railway's founding, according to a statement from the Railway Zone.

The Railway zone said in a statement that 72,041 cases were booked in December 2023 alone, resulting in Rs. 5.13 crore in revenue from fines levied on passengers who enter the SWR zone without a ticket.

During the previous three months, from October to December 2023, the Konkan Railway Corporation (KRC) conducted a thorough ticket inspection campaign that has resulted in the collection of fines totaling more than Rs 5.66 crore. Officials collected Rs 1,95,64,926 in fines and the actual cost from 6,675 passengers who were found to be travelling without tickets in December 2023 alone.

18,446 passengers travelled without tickets over the three months from October to December 2023, bringing in a total of Rs 5,66,99,017 for Konkan Railway ticket collectors.