Indian Railways collects Rs 1,781 crore in fines for ticketless, irregular travel in FY25

Vaishnaw said the instances of unauthorised passengers travelling in trains arises because of gaps between the demand for and supply of seats. The Railways has to run special trains during festivals and holidays to meet the extra demand for seats. “…during (the) year 2025-26, till November 2025, about 60,000 special trains (services) have been operated and more than 700 coaches have been utilised for augmentation of train services on a permanent basis,” said the minister in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.

During this period, more that 200 trains were introduced — including 28 Vande Bharat Express trains, 26 Amrit Bharat Express and two Namo Bharat Rapid Rail trains — to meet the rising demand for train travel during special occasions, according to Railway Ministry data.

Apart from running special trains, the Railways has also taken up a project to create special holding areas — similar to those at New Delhi Railway Station — at 76 stations across the country. This will allow passengers to enter platforms in a controlled manner, along with systematic ticket checking.

The Zonal Railways conducts ticket checking campaigns from time to time to keep a check on ticketless train passengers. More than 30,000 hand-held terminals (HHTs) have been provided to ticket checking staff to increase transparency and efficiency, accuracy of calculation and collection of excess charges, as well as monitoring of deficiencies in on-board services, said Vaishnaw.

HHT is a tablet-like device for Ticket Examiners (TTEs). It has replaced the old paper charts system in the Indian Railways. HHTs help TTEs to download reservation charts, check tickets of passengers, manage waitlists, allocate vacant berths and also to fine those travelling without ticket.

According to the Indian Railways’ year book, in FY24, a total of 5.39 lakh checks were conducted against ticketless/irregular travel (including carriage of unbooked luggage). About 361.05 lakh cases of ticketless, irregular travel and unbooked luggage were detected and Rs 2,232 crore were realised on this account during the period under consideration. Collections in FY23 and FY22 stood at Rs 2,260 crore and Rs 1,575 crore, respectively.