Ticketless travel: Railways collect Rs. 78,120 as fine

Mysuru: The Mysuru Division of South Western Railways (SWR) has cautioned rail commuters against ticketless travel. This follows a ticket-checking drive held last week during which 272 cases were booked and Rs. 78,120 was collected in fines. The checking was done between Kadakola and Ashokapuram Railway Stations on the Chamarajanagar-Bengaluru Passenger, and 83 persons were booked for offences such as travelling without ticket, travelling in coaches reserved for women, and travelling on footboard. They were produced in a makeshift Court room and the Special Judicial Magistrate (Railways) imposed fines up to Rs.9,750 on the offenders. The drive was organised jointly by Commercial and Security branches by deploying 27 ticket-checking staff, nine commercial branch staff and 35 Railway Protection Force staff led by Yashod Kumar. Divisional Commercial Manager S.G. Yathish and Assistant Commercial Manager Mysuru Division Kenchanaika were present. Yathish has cautioned that checks against ticketless travel and other irregularities would be stepped up throughout the Division in the coming days. He has urged the passengers to always travel with proper authority so as to avoid being penalised which may include imprisonment.