Title - Ticketless travel on the rise in Vadodara railway division - The Times of India

VADODARA: Vadodara railway division of Western Railway is witnessing a steady rise in earnings from fines collected from ticketless travelers during ticket checking drives.

According to officials of the railway division, the division has registered 25,526 number of cases of irregular travel and its collection from fines has crossed Rs 1.1 crore within a fortnight.

During the ticket checking drive between November 1 and November 15, the division collected Rs 1,11,21,089 by registering 25,526 cases of irregular travel.

"This is higher than the number of cases as well as earnings during the entire month of November last year," U S Jha, senior divisional commercial manager of Vadodara railway division said on Friday.

Earlier the division had registered best ever ticket checking earnings in a single day on November 12, a day before Diwali.

The division had detected 3,225 cases of irregular travel and collected Rs 14.51 lakh worth earnings (fines). This had surpassed the earlier record of best ever figures of cases and earnings when the division had collected Rs 14.33 lakh worth earning from 3,131 cases registered on November 11.

"We are requesting all the passengers to purchase tickets and plan their journey properly to save themselves from getting penalised while on journey and to travel with dignity," said Jha.