Western Railways nets Rs 172 crore from ticketless travel in 10 months

Western Railway WR has collected over Rs 172 crore in fines through intensive ticketchecking drives conducted between April 2025 and January 2026 officials said on ThursdayAccording to WR more than 27 lakh ticketless and irregular passengers including cases of unbooked luggage were detected during the period resulting in a recovery of Rs 17255 crore nearly a 47 per cent increase compared to the corresponding period last yearIn January 2026 alone fines exceeding Rs 17 crore were collected from 282 lakh offenders marking a 31 per cent rise yearonyearMumbai suburban AC locals under focusIn the Mumbai suburban section intensified checks led to the detection of 975 lakh ticketless or irregular travellers between April 2025 and January 2026 with total recoveries touching Rs 4560 crore including fines from AC local trains During January 2026 WR recovered Rs 434 crore from over 102 lakh cases in suburban servicesSpecial focus was also placed on AC suburban locals where surprise checks were carried out to curb unauthorised travelOver one lakh penalty cases were booked in AC locals during the period yielding fines of Rs 338 crore a 97 per cent jump over last yearFake UTS ticket racket detectedWR officials also highlighted the detection of a fraudulent ticketing case during a joint enforcement drive A woman passenger travelling in a Virarbound local was found using a fake virtual UTS AC pass generated through a fraudulent application circulated on WhatsApp She was deboarded at Bandra and handed over to the Railway Police with the help of the Railway Protection Force for further legal action3075 lakh passengers caught travelling without tickets in FY 2526 says CREarlier in January the Central Railway said that during its intensified efforts to curb unauthorised and ticketless travel have led to achieving significant results during the financial year 202526 between April to DecemberAn official statement said that through systematic ticket checking drives the railway apprehended 3075 lakh passengers travelling without valid tickets marking an increase of nearly 10 per cent compared to 2801 lakh passengers during the same period last yearA total of Rs18316 crores was recovered in penalties over 20 per cent higher than the Rs15199 crores collected in the previous financial year the officials saidDecember 2025 figures highlight sharp riseIn December 2025 ticket checking teams caught 324 lakh passengers travelling without valid tickets compared with 293 lakh passengers in December 2024 indicating a rise of more than 10 per cent the statement saidPenalties collected during the month amounted to Rs1825 crores a jump of nearly 35 per cent from Rs1355 crores in December 2024 said the officialsAccording to the Central Railway during AprilDecember 2025 its divisions reported the following figures Bhusaval division Rs6383 crores from 754 lakh cases Mumbai division Rs5512 crores from 1282 lakh cases Pune division Rs2084 crores from 341 lakh cases Nagpur division Rs2075 crores from 333 lakh cases Solapur division Rs839 crores from 181 lakh cases Headquarters Rs1422 crores from 183 lakh cases