Title - TICKETLESS RAILWAY PASSENGERS COUGH UP RS 1.6 LAKH FINE

The East Coast Railways (ECoR) conducted a 36-hour-long ticket checking drive and awareness programme at the Bhubaneswar railway station to discourage ticketless travel in trains and unauthorised visits to the station premises.

During the special massive ticket checking on Monday and Tuesday, the ECoR detected about 600 passengers who had travelled without tickets or with improper tickets and also collected a fine of Rs 1.60 lakh. Apart from this, 42 persons were fined for spitting, littering and violating cleanliness rules.

Similarly, the passengers have been counseled and educated to buy bonafide tickets from the ticket counters to make their journey hassle free. Daily commuters have also been advised to buy Monthly Season Tickets (MST) to avoid standing in the queue at the Booking Counters.

The MST is also much cheaper (about one third) than the regular journey fare of a month.

Passengers were also encouraged to buy ATVM (Automatic Ticket Vending Machine) Smart Card which is one of the most convenient ways to buy tickets now- a-days. Passengers were advised to carry minimum luggage during their train journey so that their journey is more comfortable.

About 67 ticket checking staff, including commercial supervisors, Chief Ticket Inspectors (CTI), Train Ticket Examiners (TTE) form Khurda Road Division along with Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel were deployed for the drive. It was headed by Senior Divisional Commercial Manager of Khurda Road Division HL Luang.