New Delhi: Amid a huge rush of passengers during the festive season, Indian Railways said it has started a special drive to keep a track on ticketless travellers across the country. The national transporter also said that such passengers will face action if they are caught travelling without a ticket. Notably, the special drive by the Indian Railways has started from Friday.
In this regard, the Railway Board has issued an order to all the zonal railways, outlining the details of this drive, scheduled to start on October 20 and conclude on November 27.
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Under the guidance of Executive Director of Passenger Marketing Neeraj Sharma, the special drive will focus on checking accommodation allocated under emergency quotas and reservations obtained against specific categories such as senior citizens and cancer patients
All railway zones across the country have received orders to assign senior-level officers responsible for monitoring the drive at both the divisional and zonal levels.
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A senior railway officer told News18 that to accommodate the expected surge in travellers during this festive season, railway zones have already announced additional trains and the opening of extra ticket counters.
The initiative from the Railways comes as several instances of ticketless travel or traveling with unauthorized tickets have been witnessed in recent times. As per a Right to Information (RTI) response quoted by the news agency PTI, Indian Railways apprehended a staggering 3.6 crore passengers traveling on incorrect or without any tickets during the fiscal year 2022-23. This marks a notable surge of nearly one crore from the previous year’s figures.
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It should be noted that in 2019-2020, over 1.10 crore passengers were apprehended for traveling without valid tickets or with incorrect ones. Then in 2021-22, this number rose to 2.7 crore, and in the fiscal year 2022-23, it reached a concerning 3.6 crore.
Keeping the festive rush in mind this season, Indian Railways has introduced a series of special train services, particularly for Diwali, Dussehra and Chhath Puja. During this time, Northern Railway announced 34 special trains so far.
