Ticketless train travel cases surge back to pre-Covid numbers

The South Western Railway (SWR) returned to tackle a familiar challenge during 2021-22, as cases of ticketless travel clocked huge numbers after a sharp, Covid-19-driven fall in cases during the previous year.

Official figures revealed that 5.45 lakh cases of ticketless travel were registered in the railway zone during the year and Rs 32.16 crore collected as penalty from the offenders.

The corresponding figures for the previous years were 1.2 lakh cases and Rs 7.29 crore in penalty (2020-21) and 4.1 lakh and Rs 18.51 crore (2019-20), respectively.

A senior official in the South Western Railway Bengaluru division’s commercial department said with most of the train services back on schedule, the numbers could see a spike during the current year.