Fri Jan 03 13:38:37 UTC 2025: ## Salem Railway Division Sees Sharp Rise in Ticketless Travel Penalties
**Salem, January 3, 2025** – The Salem Railway Division in Tamil Nadu reported a significant increase in revenue from ticket checking drives during the period April to December 2024. The division collected a total of ₹15.88 crore, a substantial rise compared to the previous year.
This increase is primarily attributed to a surge in detected cases of both ticketless and irregular travel. Ticket checking squads identified 1.21 lakh instances of ticketless travel, resulting in penalties totaling ₹9.79 crore – a 7.6% rise in cases and a 9.5% increase in penalties compared to the same period in 2023. Similarly, a dramatic 54.2% jump in cases of irregular travel led to a ₹6.04 crore penalty collection, representing a 51.4% increase year-on-year.
Minor increases were also seen in penalties for excess luggage and unbooked luggage. A total of ₹3.24 lakh was collected for 539 cases of exceeding luggage limits, and ₹1.93 lakh was collected for 308 cases of unbooked luggage.
The substantial rise in revenue highlights the effectiveness of the railway division’s ticket checking efforts in curbing ticketless travel and ensuring fare compliance.
First Piper 