Title - Ticketless travel soars as fares go up

Mumbai: The number of ticketless travellers on suburban trains went up by 26% between April and December 2012. And it’s no coincidence that railway fares too became more expensive in the last nine months.
    Statistics with CR indicate that nearly three lakh more commuters were booked for ticketless travel in the last nine months (compared to the previous year) and the fines collected went up by a record 28%.
    CR spokesperson V Chandrasekar said, “Ticket checking earnings increased by exactly 28.47% and the earnings were 25.79% more in December alone.” ‘Buy ticket, avoid shame’
Mumbai: CR has been persistent in curbing ticketless/unauthorized travel on both suburban and long-distance trains through its massive checking drives. “There will be another fare hike with effect from January 21 midnight. We will intensify our drive and ensure that people are discouraged from travelling without tickets,” CR spokesperson V Chandrasekar said.
    Statistics revealed that during December 2012, 1.33 lakh cases of ticketless/irregular travel—including unbooked luggage—had been detected against 1.07 lakh in December 2011. The amount recovered in fines last December was Rs. 5.56 crore against Rs. 4.42 crore during the corresponding period in 2011, showing an increase of 25.79%.
    Said Chandrasekar, “We recorded 13.30 lakh cases against ticketless travellers between April and December, and this was around 10.55 lakh more cases than the previous year. The fine recovered in 2012 was Rs 58.94 crore against Rs 45.88 crore during the corresponding period in 2011.”
    The CR officials have appealed to all passengers to travel with proper and valid tickets to avoid inconvenience and “embarrassment in public”.
    The fares are set to increase from the midnight of January 21. While there will be a two paise hike per km for second class suburban tickets, the hike for first class tickets is three paise per km. Sources in the railway ministry indicate that there will be no further hike in the railway budget which will be presented in February
    The fares are being rounded off in multiples of Rs 5. Fares ending in 1 and 6 will be exempted and will be rounded off to the previous number. For example, Rs 11, 21 and Rs 31 will be rounded off to Rs 10, 20 and 30. Similarly, Rs 16, Rs 26 and Rs 36 will be rounded off to Rs 15, 25 and 35.
    Fares ending with 2, 3 and 4 will be rounded off to Rs 5 and those ending in 7, 8 and 9 will be rounded off to 10. For example, Rs 17, Rs 22 and Rs 38 will be rounded off to Rs 20, Rs 25 and Rs 40
    For first class, the fares will be rounded off to the next multiple of Rs 5. Fares such as Rs 11 and Rs 36 will be rounded off to Rs 15 and Rs 40, respectively.