Extra income for Railways from ticketless travellers

Irangika RANGE

The Sri Lanka Railways arrested 6,054 persons found travelling without tickets during May. The collected fines amounted to Rs.3.5 million.

This was made up of fines levied for travelling without tickets, travelling second class using third class tickets, travelling beyond the destination mentioned in the ticket and illegal trading and begging.

"Fifty four officials of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) attached to the Sri Lanka Railways Security Force, are conducting the raids on trains operating on all lines, Transport Deputy Minister Rohana Kumara Dissanayake said.

'Those violating the rules, would be fined by the RPF on duty. If, any passenger failed to pay the penalty, the offender would be liable for prosecution, the minister asserted.

Fines from ticketless travel have become a rich source of income for Sri Lanka Railways in recent times. During the last year, the RPF officers apprehended as many as 140,044 passengers for either cheating on travel class or being ticketless. Sri Lanka Railways has netted over Rs. 7.7 million as fines in 2010 as a result.

"It had been decided to conduct special checks in addition to routine checks that are being carried out during rush hours," he said. "Collecting fines through ticket inspections would bring more revenue to the Department as well," he added.