25% surge in unreserved ticket sales in June: Rlys
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Patna: An intensive ticket-checking drive conducted across the Danapur division of the East Central Railway (ECR) in June has begun to show results, leading to a 25% surge in ticket sales through the Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS) in the month.
According to Danapur divisional railway manager (DRM) Jayant Kumar Choudhary, the intensified ticket-checking drive conducted during June led to the penalisation of 51,644 passengers who were found travelling without valid tickets. The crackdown resulted in the collection of fines amounting to Rs 3.50 lakh, he said.
"The objective behind the drive was not just to penalise offenders, but to instil a sense of responsibility among daily commuters and casual passengers.
This has evidently led to an increase in the number of passengers purchasing proper tickets before boarding either long-distance or short-distance passenger trains in the division," the DRM said.
Danapur senior divisional commercial manager (Senior DCM), Abhinav Siddarth, said on Monday the railways has already introduced the UTS mobile app and automatic ticket vending machines (ATVM) across major stations of the division to reduce congestion at general ticket booking counters. These digital facilities allow passengers to conveniently purchase unreserved tickets without standing in long queues, he said.
Similar inspection drives will continue in the future, he said.
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