Mumbai: Central Railway (CR) has intensified its crackdown on unauthorised travel, recovering a record Rs 159.3 crore in penalties from 20.5 lakh ticketless passengers between April and September 2026, an official said on Thursday.This reflects a substantial 37% surge in earnings compared to Rs 116.5 crore collected during the same period last year.On average, CR ticket-checking teams penalised 11,184 offenders and collected over Rs 87 lakh daily. In September 2026 alone, 2.4 lakh offenders were caught, yielding Rs 18.5 crore.Division-wise recoveries were led by Mumbai with Rs 66.9 crore (10.11 lakh cases), followed by Bhusaval (Rs 38.90 crore), Pune (Rs 18.68 crore), Nagpur (Rs 17.93 crore), Headquarters (Rs 9.63 crore) and Solapur (Rs 7.27 crore).Following the revision of the minimum penalty from Rs 250 to Rs 500, CR deployed multi-pronged strategies, including ambush and fortress checks. CR chief spokesperson Swapnil Nila urged passengers to travel responsibly with valid tickets.
