Intensive ticket checking drive against violators on trains

The South Central Railway, Vijayawada Division, conducted an intensive ticket checking drive over Vijayawada–Rajahmundry Section and collected Rs.13.27 lakh as penalties from the violators, by registering 1,973 cases.
The drive was held under the supervision of J. Sukesh Deepak, Deputy Chief Commercial Manager (Passenger Marketing), and Rambabu Vavilapalli, Senior Divisional Commercial Manager, Vijayawada Division. A team of 100 Ticket Checking officials was deployed at stations and on identified trains to tackle the menace of irregular and ticket-less travel.
During the ticket checking drive, a total of 1,973 cases were registered, of which 978 were for ticketless travel, 978 for irregular travel, and 17 for unbooked luggage; a penalty of Rs. 8.28 lakh, Rs. 4.91 lakh, and Rs. 8,400, respectively, was realized by the staff, amounting to a total penalty of Rs. 13.27 lakh in a single day for the section. In all, 63 trains were checked between Vijayawada and Rajahmundry sections.
Sukesh Deepak, Deputy Chief Commercial Manager, stated that the passengers were also educated about the usage of fire extinguishers and various safety measures to be adopted during rail travel to help railways serve them better. He further stated that the objective of the ticket checking drive is to curb ticketless, irregular travel, and unbooked luggage and to create a moral fear among habitual offenders.