Mumbai: Railway authorities have recovered nearly ₹262 crore in penalties from ticketless and irregular passengers across Mumbai’s suburban railway network during the current financial year, following a series of intensified enforcement drives.
The large amount has been collected through systematic ticket-checking operations conducted by officials from both Central Railway and Western Railway across the busy local train network in Mumbai.
Railway officials confirmed that a portion of these fines came from passengers travelling in air-conditioned (AC) local trains without valid tickets. Over the past year, authorities recovered approximately ₹7 crore in penalties from commuters who entered AC coaches using general-class tickets. Surprise inspection drives were carried out on AC suburban services to curb such violations.
In the Mumbai division of Central Railway, more than 16.16 lakh cases of irregular travel were detected during the 2025–26 financial year across suburban, mail, and express trains. These violations resulted in penalties amounting to ₹71.31 crore.
According to Central Railway’s chief spokesperson Swapnil Nila, the figures represent a 2 percent increase in cases and a 4 percent rise in revenue compared to the previous year.
Monthly enforcement data also highlights the scale of violations. In February alone, Central Railway detected nearly 1.65 lakh cases of irregular travel and collected fines totaling ₹8.58 crore.
A significantly higher number of violations was recorded by Western Railway during the same period. Between April 2025 and February 2026, nearly 30 lakh cases of ticketless or irregular travel were detected across its services. These included offences such as travelling without valid tickets and carrying unbooked luggage. Penalties exceeding ₹191 crore were recovered during this period.
Western Railway’s chief spokesperson Vineet Abhishek stated that the enforcement figures show a 42 percent increase compared with the same period last year.
Further inspections in February 2026 alone led to the detection of nearly three lakh violations across Western Railway routes, generating penalties of about ₹18.5 crore, which officials described as more than 10 percent higher than the previous year.
Data released by Central Railway shows that the highest number of violations occurred in second-class compartments, where approximately 11.68 lakh cases were recorded, resulting in fines totaling ₹58.6 crore.
Meanwhile, first-class coaches accounted for around 1.46 lakh violations, generating ₹4.66 crore in penalties. AC suburban trains recorded 1.1 lakh cases, leading to fines of ₹3.51 crore.
Additional penalties were also imposed for other violations. Authorities recovered ₹2.98 crore from over 50,000 cases involving fare differences in mail and express trains. Another ₹1.56 crore was collected from nearly 1.4 lakh cases related to unbooked luggage between April 2025 and February 2026.
Railway officials have stated that ticket-checking drives will continue across Mumbai’s suburban network in the coming months. Authorities believe that sustained enforcement will help reduce ticketless travel and encourage commuters to follow railway ticketing rules more strictly.
With millions of passengers relying on Mumbai’s suburban trains every day, railway officials say strict enforcement remains crucial to maintaining discipline and ensuring fair revenue collection for the railway system.
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