Western Railway collects Rs 138.05 crore in fines in seven months; AC local cases up 82%

Western Railway (WR) has collected fines totalling Rs 138.05 crore between April and October 2026 from passengers travelling without a valid ticket, on the wrong ticket, or carrying unbooked luggage. In the seven-month period, ticket-checking teams caught 17.93 lakh cases across both suburban and long-distance trains.

The information was given in an official statement issued by Western Railway's Chief Public Relations Officer, Vineet Abhishek. According to the statement, the fines were collected during intensive ticket-checking drives on Mumbai's suburban local trains, mail and express services, passenger trains and special trains. The aim of the action was to curb unauthorised travel, prevent loss of revenue and encourage passengers to follow ticketing rules.

In October 2026 alone, ticket-checking staff caught more than 2.44 lakh cases of passengers travelling without a ticket or on the wrong ticket. The railway collected Rs 21.53 crore in fines in that one month. The statement said the drives were run under the supervision of officers of the Senior Commercial Department, to strengthen enforcement and curb ticketless travel across the network.

Mumbai's suburban network accounted for a large share of these cases. Between April and October 2026, Western Railway caught about 6.28 lakh cases of ticketless and irregular travel on its Mumbai suburban section, with about Rs 36 crore collected in penalties. Of the 17.93 lakh cases caught across Western Railway in this period, the suburban network accounted for about 35%. The figure shows that curbing unauthorised travel on Mumbai's crowded local network remains a challenge.

The situation is more worrying in AC local trains. Unauthorised travel in Mumbai's AC locals has become another major concern for Western Railway. Between April and October 2026, the railway caught about 1.13 lakh cases of passengers travelling in AC suburban coaches without a valid AC ticket. The number is up by more than 82% on the same period last year.

For this reason, Western Railway has stepped up ticket-checking on AC local services. The aim is to ensure that passengers holding ordinary or general tickets cannot travel in AC coaches without buying the required AC ticket.