According to WR, more than 27 lakh ticketless and irregular passengers, including cases of unbooked luggage, were detected during the period, resulting in a recovery of Rs 172.55 crore, nearly a 47 per cent increase compared to the corresponding period last year
Special focus was also placed on AC suburban locals, where surprise checks were carried out to curb unauthorised travel. Representational Pic
Western Railway (WR) has collected over Rs 172 crore in fines through intensive ticket-checking drives conducted between April 2025 and January 2026, officials said on Thursday.
According to WR, more than 27 lakh ticketless and irregular passengers, including cases of unbooked luggage, were detected during the period, resulting in a recovery of Rs 172.55 crore, nearly a 47 per cent increase compared to the corresponding period last year.
In January 2026 alone, fines exceeding Rs 17 crore were collected from 2.82 lakh offenders, marking a 31 per cent rise year-on-year.
Mumbai suburban, AC locals under focus
In the Mumbai suburban section, intensified checks led to the detection of 9.75 lakh ticketless or irregular travellers between April 2025 and January 2026, with total recoveries touching Rs 45.60 crore, including fines from AC local trains. During January 2026, WR recovered Rs 4.34 crore from over 1.02 lakh cases in suburban services.
Special focus was also placed on AC suburban locals, where surprise checks were carried out to curb unauthorised travel.
Over one lakh penalty cases were booked in AC locals during the period, yielding fines of Rs 3.38 crore, a 97 per cent jump over last year.
Fake UTS ticket racket detected
WR officials also highlighted the detection of a fraudulent ticketing case during a joint enforcement drive. A woman passenger travelling in a Virar-bound local was found using a fake virtual UTS AC pass generated through a fraudulent application circulated on WhatsApp. She was deboarded at Bandra and handed over to the Railway Police with the help of the Railway Protection Force for further legal action.
30.75 lakh passengers caught travelling without tickets in FY 25-26, says CR
Earlier in January, the Central Railway said that during its intensified efforts to curb unauthorised and ticketless travel have led to achieving significant results during the financial year 2025-26 between April to December.
An official statement said that through systematic ticket checking drives, the railway apprehended 30.75 lakh passengers travelling without valid tickets, marking an increase of nearly 10 per cent compared to 28.01 lakh passengers during the same period last year.
A total of Rs.183.16 crores was recovered in penalties, over 20 per cent higher than the Rs.151.99 crores collected in the previous financial year, the officials said.
December 2025 figures highlight sharp rise
In December 2025, ticket checking teams caught 3.24 lakh passengers travelling without valid tickets, compared with 2.93 lakh passengers in December 2024, indicating a rise of more than 10 per cent, the statement said.
Penalties collected during the month amounted to Rs.18.25 crores, a jump of nearly 35 per cent from Rs.13.55 crores in December 2024, said the officials.
According to the Central Railway, during April-December 2025, its divisions reported the following figures:
- Bhusaval division: Rs.63.83 crores from 7.54 lakh cases
- Mumbai division: Rs.55.12 crores from 12.82 lakh cases
- Pune division: Rs.20.84 crores from 3.41 lakh cases
- Nagpur division: Rs.20.75 crores from 3.33 lakh cases
- Solapur division: Rs.8.39 crores from 1.81 lakh cases
- Headquarters: Rs.14.22 crores from 1.83 lakh cases
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
