Dip in ticketless train travellers this summer: Pune Railway Division

As per information obtained from the Pune Railway Division, 28,167 ticketless travellers were caught in April this year compared to 36,579 such travellers recorded last year. As many as 26,188 people were caught travelling without a ticket in May compared to 36,936 recorded during the same period last year. While the Railway caught 30,410 unauthorised travellers in June last year, the numver dropped to 25,377 this year.

Apart from this, authorities said they caught 24,891 passengers travelling with ‘irregular tickets’ (travelling in a higher class with a ticket bought for a lower class) between April and June this year and recovered Rs 1.5 crore in fines from such people. Similarly, 509 passengers were found with unbooked luggage during the first three months of this fiscal and the Railway earned Rs 57,000 by way of imposing penalties.

The total revenue earned from ticket checking was Rs 8.22 crore for April-June this year, of which Rs 2.65 crore was collected in June alone. As per official data, the Pune Railway Division generated overall passenger revenue of Rs 89.98 crore in June this year, 15.7 per cent higher than Rs 77.74 crore that it had earned during the same month last year.

The number of originating passengers, which was 33.1 lakh in June 2022, increased to 43.9 lakh this June. “Due to the effect of Covid last year, unreserved trains, which were not operating, have been made operational now,” said the official while explaining the reason behind the increase in the number of originating passengers. In June, the division achieved Rs 1.09 crore via commercial publicity, while it earned Rs 33.36 crore by way of transporting goods.