The national transporter has decided to catch railway passengers who are travelling without tickets.

A new drive by Indian Railways: In a bid to spread awareness, Indian Railways is cracking down on those who travel ticketless. The national transporter has decided to catch railway passengers who are travelling without tickets. Recently, the railway board announced the drive by Indian Railways, under which it will catch ticketless passengers from June 8, 2018, to June 22, 2018. A letter, which was issued by the Railway Board to all principal commercial managers stated that by June 23, 2018, a report on the exercise will have to be submitted by the zones of Indian Railways.

The letter sent by the Railway Board also stated that other than detecting fake tickets, forged tickets, misuse of passes as well as concessions among many other factors, the drive carried out by Indian Railways should also check transfer of ticket cases and passengers travelling without tickets. Under the new special ticket-checking drive, being conducted by Indian Railways, railway passengers who are travelling without valid tickets will be penalised.

Earlier this year, it was reported that the national transporter earned Rs 1,097 crore through the penalties collected from passengers who were travelling without tickets. Indian Railways also booked 2,000 “touts” who were involved in the black marketing of railway tickets. The amount of Rs 1,097 crore has been collected between April 2017 and February 2018. Additionally, the national transporter also earned Rs 600 crore extra per year with the help of flexi fares, which refers to the increase of train fare based on demand in premium trains.

Indian Railways, which is facing criticism over the late running of trains across various zones, has recently taken a series of new measures in order to improve the experience of railway passengers. The new measures taken by the national transporter include a new portal to enhance ease of train ticket booking, new eco-friendly bio-disposable plates in some premium trains for meals and an extra water bottle in trains, which are running over 20 hours late, other than the drive carried out by the railways to make railway passengers aware of the baggage limit permissible in train compartments.