Western Railway collects over Rs 138 crore in fines from ticketless travellers in seven months

Western Railway (WR) has collected more than Rs 138 crore in fines between April and October 2026 from passengers travelling without a ticket, on the wrong ticket or with unbooked luggage, according to an official railway statement.

During this period, the railway's ticket checking staff caught 17.93 lakh cases across the network. A statement issued by Western Railway's Chief Public Relations Officer, Vineet Abhishek, said a total of Rs 138.05 crore was recovered in the seven months.

The recoveries came from intensive ticket checking drives. These were run on suburban local trains, long-distance mail and express trains, passenger services and holiday special trains.

In October 2026 alone, Western Railway caught more than 2.44 lakh passengers travelling without a ticket or on the wrong ticket. Fines of Rs 21.53 crore were collected from them.

The railway said the drives were conducted under the direct supervision of senior officers of the commercial department. The aim is to prevent loss of revenue and encourage passengers to travel with a valid ticket.

In the Mumbai suburban section, ticket checking teams caught 6.28 lakh cases of travel without a ticket or on the wrong ticket between April and October 2026. According to the railway, about Rs 36 crore in fines was collected in these drives. This shows the railway is trying to curb unauthorised travel on its suburban network.

The railway has also stepped up special checking on Mumbai's AC suburban local trains, so that passengers holding ordinary tickets do not board AC coaches without a valid AC ticket.

Between April and October 2026, about 1.13 lakh such cases were caught on AC suburban services. This is an increase of more than 82 per cent over the same period last year. Officials said the figures show a sharp rise in unauthorised travel on AC locals.

The railway said its ticket checking staff will continue intensive drives to stop unauthorised travel, protect railway revenue and promote discipline in travel. Western Railway has appealed to passengers to travel only with a valid ticket.