The western Railway's attempt at nabbing more ticketless travellers has turned into a nightmare for some of its employees. A 56-year-old ticket collector earlier this month wrote to the railways complaining of his deteriorating health owing to the rise in daily fine targets.

The sudden surge of target from Rs 4,000 to Rs 9,000 was announced around a month ago "without proper study", he has alleged, adding that this was leading to stress and anxiety that may result in severe health complications for ticket collectors.