A majority of passengers found to be travelling in suburban trains in Chennai Division without tickets are not daily wage workers or small-time vendors, but college students.
Since April this year, Southern Railway has earned over ₹57 crore as penalty from passengers travelling without tickets. A drive against ticketless travel revealed that college-goers formed a sizeable chunk of those taking a free ride, particularly in the Tambaram-Chengalpattu route of Chennai Division.
Officials said that most of the students caught travelling without tickets could actually afford the concessional season ticket that they were entitled to, but chose to travel for free. “For many of them, it is a free travel challenge. They board the front or rear end coaches and quickly exit the platforms on seeing ticket checking staff. If caught, they pay the penalty without any argument,” a Chief Ticket Inspector said.
On Monday, Southern Railway said that its ticket checking squad recorded the highest-ever single-day earning of ₹22.7 lakh, collected as fine from over 3,300 ticketless travellers on October 15, 2023. A team comprising 31 ticket checking staff were deployed on the intensive drive against unauthorised travel at the Dr MGR Chennai Central, Perambur, Erode, Coimbatore and Ernakulam stations.
Chennai tops
Since April 1, 2023, the zone earned ₹57.48 crore as penalties from passengers for various offences during travel such as travelling without tickets, irregular tickets and unbooked luggage. While Chennai Division topped the earnings from ticketless travel with ₹21.82 crore, Thiruvananthapuram Division and Palakkad Divisions followed with ₹8.72 crore and ₹8.32 crore respectively.
“Southern Railway commends dedicated efforts of its ticket checking wing. While they remain committed to ensuring that passengers travel with valid authority, it is equally important for the public to uphold their responsibility to collectively enhance service quality. Traveling without a valid ticket/pass is punishable under section 137,138 & 139 of Railways Act,1989,” said B. Guganesan, Chief Public Relations Officer.
On the profile of ticketless travellers, a senior ticket checking official said they could be categorised under two groups – one intentional and the other unintentional. The unintentional passengers usually boarded the suburban train at the last minute to catch another express train in time. “When we check, they show proof of further travel and pay the penalty. The intentional group are mostly students. They also pay the fine when confronted. For them it’s not only fun to evade the Ticket Inspectors, but free ride till they are caught,” he said.
