RailEnquiry

KOCHI: Don't risk travelling without tickets from Ernakulam Junction railway station from now on. In a move to bring rabid ticketless travel under control, the railways has recently reconstituted the ticket checking squad at the station.And what more, the squad has levied fines of about Rs 90,000 in the first week of June itself, showing the illegal practice is quiet rampant. The squad charged nearly 50 people for ticketless travel everyday.The checking squad was dissolved early this year due to shortage of hands for regular train duty. The reconstituted squad will have three members, including a travelling ticket examiner and ticket collector.The railway decided to reintroduce the squad after finding no improvement in ticket sales over the last several months. The station sells around 10,000-11,000 tickets every day. Railway authorities said many season ticket holders have been travelling with expired season tickets. The minimum fine collected for ticketless travel is Rs 250.

"Though the number of passengers has increased over months, there has been no increase in ticket sales," said southern railway (Ernakulam) area manager P L Ashok Kumar. Meanwhile, railway authorities said there has been a marginal increase in ticket sales at the station after checking was resumed in trains. However, the railway has not been able to conduct regular checking for platform tickets due to staff shortage.