Onam rush in Keralam: Railways intensify checks to curb ticketless travel

Intensified checks are under way on trains by travelling ticket examiners (TTEs) to identify passengers who travel without tickets or illegally enter reserved coaches. Considering the Onam rush, stringent instructions have been issued to TTEs to impose fines on such passengers or seek the support of the Railway Protection Force to initiate legal action.

The move comes in the wake of a few recent incidents of alleged manhandling attempts against railway staff who tried to discourage such unauthorised passengers. There were even two incidents in which TTEs sustained injuries after being allegedly attacked by passengers who were caught travelling without proper tickets.

“There were occasions when the TTEs adopted a humanitarian approach in the case of certain passengers in the past. But we are helpless now as the number of fraudsters is on the rise,” says a TTE on duty on the Palakkad-Mangaluru stretch.

According to him, passengers with general tickets boarding reserved coaches and claiming ignorance of the rules is quite common. “Some have been found roaming around coaches to evade inspections. Conversion of general tickets to reserved-class tickets will be done only after imposing the fine,” he adds.

A TTE from Kozhikode points out that there are travellers who show screenshots of general tickets booked by other IRCTC booking app users. Unreserved tickets booked using the railway app are strictly linked to the user’s device and identity, and screenshots or forwarded copies are invalid, he says.

Railway sources confirm that special checking drives are also under consideration, following the model adopted by some railway divisions, to discourage unauthorised travel and prevent revenue loss. Details of the fines collected recently are also expected to be released. The minimum fine for passengers travelling without a ticket has been doubled from ₹250 to ₹500, with the revised penalty coming into effect in June this year.

According to officials, the revised fine has been introduced in accordance with the provisions of the Jan Vishwas Act, 2026. The higher penalty is applicable under Sections 137 and 138 of the Railways Act, 1989. The provisions cover travelling without a ticket, as well as travelling with a used, invalid or otherwise improper ticket.