Mumbai‘s local trains are seeing more passengers without tickets during the evenings, as ticket inspectors are mostly absent after 8 pm.
To solve this problem, the Western Railway’s Mumbai division has formed a special team to check tickets inside trains and at stations during nighttime. They’ve named this team the ‘Batman Squad,’ short for ‘Be Aware TTE Manning At Night.’
The ‘Batman’ team began patrolling on March 11, and they’ve already caught about 2,500 ticketless passengers, earning the railway around Rs 6.50 lakh, as reported by TOI.
Aside from checking tickets, the Batman team also keeps an eye on what’s happening at stations at night. This extra watchfulness is meant to make women passengers feel safer, especially since ticket inspectors will now check women’s coaches during nighttime.
Ticketless Travel Causes Overcrowding in Mumbai’s AC Locals
Ticketless travelers are causing headaches, especially for those in the AC local trains at night. People who pay five times the regular fare for tickets are finding it hard to board due to the overcrowding caused by those without tickets. Complaints flood social media daily, prompting the railway to deploy the Batman Squad during the night to tackle this issue.
Digital Tickets: Mumbai’s New Ticketing Trend
In efforts to promote digital tickets, the WR has launched a campaign resulting in a significant increase in the usage of the UTS mobile app for ticket bookings. Post-COVID, there has been a doubling in the number of tickets booked through mobile channels, signaling a growing acceptance of digital ticketing methods.
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