Western Railway launches 'Operation DEEP' against ticketless travel in Diwali rush, till Nov 14

As the number of people travelling by rail during the Diwali holidays rises, Western Railway has launched a special drive to stop ticketless travel. The campaign has been named 'Operation DEEP'.

Under Operation DEEP, ticket checking has been expanded at stations and in trains of the Mumbai division. The drive will run till November 14. Passengers travelling without tickets, entering reserved coaches without permission and travelling in the wrong class will be targeted. Anyone breaking the rules will be fined.

During festival days, crowds of passengers grow and ticket checking becomes harder. Passengers holding valid tickets suffer because of those travelling without one. The checking plan has therefore been drawn up on a larger scale. Along with regular checks at stations, surprise checks, trap operations and inspections inside trains by special teams will be carried out.

Operation DEEP rests on four stages: detect, examine, enforce and penalise. 'D' stands for detective, under which passengers without tickets will be searched out. 'E' for examine means tickets and necessary documents will be checked. The second 'E' is for enforce, under which railway rules will be implemented. 'P' stands for penalise, the stage in which rule-breakers will be fined.

To keep disputes during checking, staff safety and interaction with passengers more transparent, Western Railway has begun using body-worn cameras. Ticket checking staff of the Mumbai Central division have been given these cameras and special black jackets. To begin with, 15 body cameras and 30 jackets have been issued. Through this pilot initiative, the railway wants greater control over the whole checking process.

Western Railway is not relying only on regular checking to stop ticketless travel. Several methods are being used, including station checking, trap checking, surprise raids, fortress checks and mega ticket-checking drives. The action is also taken in mail, express and special trains. Under the provisions of railway law, travelling without a ticket attracts a fine of at least Rs 500. Western Railway administration has therefore appealed to passengers to buy a valid ticket before travelling.