Railways to crack down on ticketless travellers

Suraj A. Bandara

The Railway Department will step up raids from this week to nab ticketless travellers following increasing losses to the Railway Department daily, Railway Department Commercial Chief Vijaya Samarasingha told the Daily News.

He said this was initiated to minimize the number of ticketless travellers who avert paying fines by misleading the checkers who occasionally raid trains. Some commuters are aware at what time ticket checkers round up and at which stations they get in. Daily travellers who know this pattern avoid the checkers and travel freely on a daily basis, he said.

He was optimistic that this program would help to stop free travelling in trains minimizing losses to the Railways.

Travelling without tickets and staying in unauthorized compartments are the main offences of some passengers are guilty of, he said.

Last year, the Railway Department earned over Rs. 5.6 million through fines. Around 10,259 passengers had been nabbed without tickets, he said.

He said train travel costs less than bus travel. Trains are said to be the main mode of transport among the majority of office workers. While offering this service as a service, it is unacceptable to see the people travelling without tickets.

Samarasingha said train ticket checkers, ticket examiners, Railway security and Police will be deployed to nab culprits. Office trains, suburb trains, long distance trains and intercity trains will be checked by these officials, he said.