Western Railway (WR) collected a total fine of INR 155.46 crore through its intensive ticket checking drives between April and December 2025.
This is nearly 49 per cent rise in penalty collection over the corresponding period in 2024 when it collected INR 104.34 crore.
According to an official statement released on Monday, January 5, the drive was aimed at curbing ticketless and irregular travel and improving the overall travel experience for genuine passengers
Of the total fine amount recovered in 2025, INR 41.26 crore came from the Mumbai suburban section, underscoring the scale of ticketless travel in the city’s local train system.
According to railway officials, December 2025 saw particularly strong enforcement. In that month alone, fines worth INR 15.54 crore were recovered after detecting 2.51 lakh ticketless or irregular passengers, including cases of unbooked luggage — an increase of about 42 per cent over December of the previous year. Separately, another INR 3.95 crore was realised in December through the detection of around 92,000 cases.
To prevent unauthorised travel in Mumbai AC local trains, WR also conducted frequent surprise checks. During the period from April to December 2025, nearly 91,000 unauthorised passengers were penalised in AC locals, resulting in the recovery of INR 2.97 crore in fines, officials said. With this, AC local trains on Western Railway have emerged as a major focus of intensive ticket-checking drives. An average of 330 ticketless passengers being caught every day, underscoring the scale of unauthorised travel on Mumbai’s suburban network especially in AC local trains.
This marks around 97 per cent higher than the amount collected during the same period last year, where INR 1.51 crores was collected. It highlighted the effectiveness of the focused enforcement drive.
The railway administration said that sustained, surprise ticket checking drives were conducted across suburban services, Mail/Express trains, passenger services, and holiday special trains, under the supervision of senior commercial officers.
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