Western Railway has reported a sharp rise in revenue from ticket-checking drives, collecting over ₹72 crore in fines between April 2025 and January 2026. Officials said that intensive inspections across all Mumbai local train platforms during this period led to the detection of more than 27 lakh passengers travelling without valid tickets or with irregularities, including unbooked luggage. Overall recoveries stood at ₹172.55 crore, reflecting an increase of nearly 47 per cent compared to the same period last year. Railway authorities attributed the surge to stricter enforcement, surprise checks, and a renewed focus on curbing ticketless travel across key routes.
January 2026 alone contributed significantly to the overall figures, with fines crossing ₹17 crore during the month. Around 2.82 lakh passengers were penalised for travelling without proper tickets or violating travel norms. This marked a 31 per cent year-on-year rise in both the number of offenders caught and the amount recovered. Officials said the jump highlights the impact of sustained monitoring and increased deployment of ticket-checking staff, particularly during peak travel hours, festivals, and on high-density suburban and long-distance routes.
In the Mumbai suburban network, intensified enforcement drives resulted in the detection of nearly 9.75 lakh ticketless or irregular commuters between April 2025 and January 2026. Recoveries from the suburban section alone touched ₹45.60 crore, a figure that includes penalties collected from AC local train services. During January 2026, Western Railway recovered ₹4.34 crore from over 1.02 lakh cases in suburban trains. Officials said Mumbai’s dense commuter traffic makes regular checks essential to discourage fare evasion and ensure fair travel practices.
Special attention was given to AC suburban local trains, where surprise inspections were conducted to prevent unauthorised travel. Over one lakh penalty cases were booked in AC locals during the period under review, resulting in fines amounting to ₹3.38 crore. This represented a steep 97 per cent increase compared to the previous year. Railway officials said the higher penalties reflect both increased vigilance and a growing tendency of passengers attempting to misuse AC services without valid tickets or passes.
Western Railway also reported uncovering a fake ticketing operation during a joint enforcement drive. A woman travelling on a Virar-bound local train was found using a counterfeit virtual UTS AC pass generated through a fraudulent mobile application circulated via WhatsApp. The passenger was deboarded at Bandra and handed over to the Railway Police with assistance from the Railway Protection Force. Officials said further legal action is underway and warned commuters against using unauthorised apps or fake digital tickets.
Earlier, Central Railway had also highlighted a significant rise in cases of ticketless travel during the financial year 2025–26. Between April and December 2025, intensified checks led to 30.75 lakh passengers being caught without valid tickets, nearly 10 per cent higher than the 28.01 lakh cases recorded during the same period last year. Penalty collections during these nine months reached ₹183.16 crore, reflecting a growth of over 20 per cent compared to ₹151.99 crore recovered in the previous financial year.
December 2025 figures further underlined the trend, with 3.24 lakh passengers caught travelling without valid tickets, up from 2.93 lakh in December 2024. Penalties collected during the month stood at ₹18.25 crore, almost 35 per cent higher than the ₹13.55 crore recorded a year earlier. Central Railway data showed that between April and December 2025, the Bhusaval division led recoveries with ₹63.83 crore, followed by Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Solapur, and headquarters, reflecting widespread enforcement across divisions.