The Pune Railway Division has intensified its crackdown on ticketless travel, collecting ₹1.14 crore in fines from 10,603 passengers found travelling without valid tickets between October 17 and 27. The enforcement drive, timed around the Diwali rush, reflects the division’s ongoing commitment to ensuring fairness, accountability, and safety in rail travel.
According to railway officials, the massive penalty collection represents a 147 per cent rise in fines compared to the same period last year when ₹46.30 lakh was collected from 8,557 offenders. The surge highlights both the growing challenge of managing unregulated festive-season travel and the railways’ renewed focus on curbing revenue leakage through stricter checks. A dedicated team of ticket-checking inspectors has been deployed across major railway stations including Pune, Lonavala, Daund, Satara, and Kolhapur. The officials stated that these teams conduct surprise inspections on local and long-distance routes to ensure compliance with ticketing regulations. The heightened enforcement is not just punitive but also designed to promote behavioural change among habitual offenders, officials emphasised.
“The objective is not solely to penalise passengers but to spread awareness about the importance of travelling with valid tickets,” said a senior railway official. “Such drives are essential for ensuring fair revenue collection and operational discipline. Ticketless travel directly impacts the financial sustainability of the network, which eventually affects passenger amenities and service upgrades.” Over the years, the Indian Railways has increasingly relied on digital monitoring and data-driven surveillance to detect fare evasion. Pune Division’s enforcement strategy aligns with this larger national effort to strengthen transparency and accountability across the rail ecosystem. Officials noted that ticketless travel not only undermines revenue but also adds stress to the already strained capacity during high-demand seasons such as Diwali, when millions of passengers rely on the network.
The division has also appealed to passengers to purchase tickets through official channels—either at physical counters or via the UTS mobile app—to avoid penalties and contribute to the broader goal of clean, fair, and efficient travel. Authorities indicated that similar drives will continue in the coming weeks, especially across busy suburban and intercity routes. The enforcement success also underscores how efficient administration and sustained vigilance can improve revenue without burdening regular commuters. As the Indian Railways continues to modernise its ticketing systems and station infrastructure, the emphasis on ethical and law-abiding travel is seen as an essential component of sustainable mobility in India’s rapidly growing urban regions.
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