Islamabad (Agencies): Pakistan Railways has collected an amount of Rs 74.8 million from ticket-less passengers during a crackdown over the past two months. The operation was carried out with the help of railway police and train staffers.
Approximately 58,446 passengers were found travelling without tickets in different trains. The collected amount has been deposited in the official bank account of the department. Sources in the Ministry informed that this was not the first large-scale action against ticket-less passengers, as such crackdowns occur daily.
Ticketless travelling is illegal, and those caught without a ticket are charged a ticket price for the whole journey of the train, in addition to a penalty. Those who do not pay are handed over to the railway police.
Pakistan Railways Police claimed to have arrested a total of 3,923 accused due to their involvement in violations of rules and laws and also registered some 3,625 cases against them in eight Railways divisions over one year. The divisions include Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Mughalpura workshops, Multan, Sukkur, Karachi, and Quetta.
Railways Police Help Desks have been established at all the major railway stations across the country. The performance of the Railways Police has been quite satisfactory during the last year. Despite limited resources, the police are performing duties efficiently, and their performance is expected to improve further in the next year.