Railways have found support from first-class passengers who feel cheated of the limited room in their compartments despite paying a premium for a little comfort
Railways have found support from first-class passengers who feel cheated of the limited room in their compartments despite paying a premium for a little comfort
This is part of MiD DAY's month-long audit of experiences of travelling in and out of the city, where we take up people's issues and place them before the authorities to address.
The Central and Western Railways' drive against ticketless travel has now found support from the passengers themselves. 
Most first-class passengers MiD DAY spoke to said ticketless travellers go unchecked because TCs aren't around during peak hours
Those with valid first-class tickets feel they are being cheated of the limited number of seats in the compartment by ticketless travellers and those with second-class tickets despite paying a premium for the service.
Railway officials say that nearly 4.2 lakh, or 6 per cent, of the 70 lakh travellers who use the suburban network every day are ticketless travellers. "We caught nearly 1.67 lakh people for travelling without ticket in November last year a 79 per cent increase from November 2009.
Ticketless travel is becoming a serious concern for us and it is surprising that the figures are increasing rather than decreasing despite undertaking many drives. We are now thinking of other measures that we can take to curb this menace," said a senior Western Railway (WR) official.
First-class passengers, who have been travelling on certain routes for years, say they, too, have seen the number of ticketless travellers increase phenomenally in recent years.
Anuradha Kumar, who commutes to her office in Bandra from Bhayandar every day, said, "I have been travelling in the first-class compartment for 14 years and now even I can spot ticketless travellers and second-class ticket holders who are travelling in the first-class compartment illegally just by looking at them.
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Such people are crowding the first class compartments and the increased rush has begun to deter ticket checkers (TCs) too."
Capacity
The ladies' first-class compartments in WR have a seating capacity of 50 in both nine-coach and 12-coach rakes but the number of passengers exceeds 400 during peak hours according to railway officials.
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Central Railway rakes have a capacity to seat 24 in ladies' first class compartments in nine-coach rakes and 36 in 12-coach rakes but here, too, the number of passengers exceeds 200 and 300 respectively during peak hours.
The seating capacity in general first-class compartments in WR is 100,150 and 200 respectively for 9-, 12-, and 15-coach trains while CR has a seating capacity of 75 in nine-coach and 104 in 12-coach rakes.
Officials say these compartments see a crowd of four and sometimes even five times their seating capacity during peak hours.
Going unchecked
Most first-class passengers MiD DAY spoke to echoed the problem of ticketless travellers going unchecked because of the lack of TCs during peak hours.
Priya Pillai, a regular traveller between Badlapur and Thane, said, "We pay almost five times the cost of a second-class ticket for the privilege of travelling a little comfortably but these people, who don't have a valid ticket, get to do so for free.
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Not only are they cheating the railways but are also crowding the first-class compartments, making things worse for those who are honest and have paid for their tickets."
"TCs used to come and fine such people earlier but now even that has stopped. I have rarely seen a TC in the train during peak hours, which is when such people enter the first-class compartments.
What is the point in us buying tickets then? The railways should take strict action to safeguard their own interest and that of the honest traveller," she added.
Proactive women
Officials say that while the female commuters are proactive and ensure that people without a valid ticket don't travel in first class compartments, male passengers have expressed their helplessness in tackling the problem.
Pravin Salunkhe, who commutes between Malad to Churchgate, said, "I have been travelling in the first-class compartments since 5 years and know many daily commuters who travel first class either without ticket or with a second-class pass.
When I protest, they say they will pay the fine if the TC comes, but there is hardly any checking."
"For many passengers paying a fine once in a while seems worth it because, in the long run, they end up saving a lot of money. They bet against a TC catching them during peak hours and, in most cases, are proved true," said a passenger who did not wish to be named.
Officialspeak
Officials say passengers also take advantage of certain stations where they know there will be no checking.
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"Daily passengers know that there are very few TCs between Kalyan-Kasara and Kalyan-Karjat on the central line and Borivali-Virar on the western line.
Many passengers even travel first class without a valid ticket up to a certain station and then switch to second class when they know there are chances of getting caught."
"We carry out regular drives against passengers travelling without valid tickets but, sometimes, it is difficult for TCs to enter compartments because of the rush during peak hours.
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Passengers who come across ticketless travellers can inform us on our SMS feedback number (see box) and we will take immediate action," said Vineet Kumar, deputy general manager, CR.
Sharat Chandrayan, chief PRO, WR, said, "We have intensified our drives against ticketless travellers and those travelling first class with second-class tickets.
We have numbers where passengers can leave their messages and we will surely react and take action against the passengers."
NUMBER CRUNCHING
1,66,532
The number of passengers caught for travelling without a valid ticket by WR in November 2010
Rs 6 crore
The money collected from u00a0these defaulters
13.99 lakh
The number of passengers caught by CR for travelling without a valid ticket in 2009
16.57 lakh
The number of passengers caught by CR in 2010
37.4 lakh
The approximate number of passengers travelling by Central Railway every day
33 lakh
The approximate number of passengers travelling by Western Railway every day
WRITE TO US
For something that is the city's lifeline, Mumbai's suburban railway network is riddled with too many problems for comfort. What problems have you come across? Do you also feel cheated by ticketless travellers? Please write in to MiD DAY at inandout@mid-day.com
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