Railways denies reports on free travel during Maha Kumbh
The Indian Railways has categorically denied reports circulating in certain media outlets that passengers will be allowed to travel free of cost during the Maha Kumbh mela.
In a pleasant surprise to the railway authorities, Central Railways’ Mumbai division has collected a whopping ₹ 100 crore from passengers travelling without ticket. With this, Mumbai has become the first division in the Indian Railways to achieve this remarkable feat.
According to the official data of the Central Railway, the amount has been collected from 18 lakh ticketless passengers between April 2022 and February this year. Last year, the figure was ₹ 60 crore.
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The amount has been recovered even after the Central Railways has been continuously warning people to avoid travelling in trains without ticket, said official sources adding that the passengers have been ignoring their advice, leading to such a huge collection.
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The officials underlined that the checking was intensified after complaints of ticketless passengers caused inconvenience to those who bought tickets, both in trains and on stations and got this result.
According to an official report, the fine amount includes collection from ticketless passengers in suburban as well as Express and other regular trains within the Mumbai division.
The Mumbai division has 77 railway stations and 1,200 travel ticket examiners (TTEs). Central Railways said in a release that ₹ 100 crore includes a fine of ₹ 87.43 lakh recovered from 25,781 passengers who were found travelling without tickets in air-conditioned local trains, and ₹ 5.05 crore from 1.45 lakh passengers travelling without tickets in first class coaches.
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