Central Railways sees dip in fines on morcha day

The Central Railways saw a dramatic dip in fine collection by fifty per cent from ticketless travellers on Wednesday as the swelling crowd did not allow the ticket checkers to perform their duties. The officials said that the ticket checkers failed to enter the station premises and train compartments due to overcrowding by protestors of Maratha Kranti Morcha.

There are at least a total number of 600 ticket checkers on main line and harbour line. On Wednesday, only Rs 6 lakh could be collected from ticketless travellers as against the average daily collection of Rs 12 lakh by ticket checkers.

Even as the ticket checkers were present on duty, the swelling crowd made it difficult for them to conduct checks on every commuter present on the platform.

“Due to the rally, stations like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus saw a deployment of at least 30 Railway Protection Force (RPF) officers and 60 Government Railway Police (GRP) officers. This was also one of the reasons for which they failed to conduct the checks on the station premises,” said a Central Railway official.

On Wednesday, both the main line and harbour line saw an additional 2 lakh commuters, which included the protestors who plied by local trains in order to reach the starting point of the rally at Byculla.

“A total number of 40 lakh commuters travel daily on main line and harbour line of Central Railway on regular days. Due to the rally, the number of commuters increased to 42 lakh as the protestors plied by trains from Thane, Vashi and Panvel stations,” said a senior Central Railway official.

A total number of 57 lakh passengers purchased tickets worth Rs 5 crore on Tuesday. At least a total number of 45 lakh passengers purchased tickets worth Rs 4 crore on Wednesday