The Perils of Ticketless Travel

Recently, my family and I decided on a spontaneous trip to Mysore. We deliberately chose to travel by train so that my children could experience the joy of train travel. The Railways have always held a special place in our family due to my grandfather and his brother being part of the Indian Railways. Moreover, my father, an ex-government official and a fervent advocate of Indian railways, has extensively travelled across the country by train and firmly believes in the benefits of train journeys. Unless time constraints are severe, we always opt for train travel, and my father goes as far as filing online complaints to address customer experience issues. He feels a strong sense of association with the railways and believes it is his responsibility as a frequent traveler to bring matters to the attention of senior officials to improve the system's efficiency.

During our trip to Mysore, we booked six tickets. As we settled into our seats, which we assumed were exclusively for our group, a young woman in her late thirties occupied one of our seats and requested to continue sitting there, despite having no ticket. She insisted that we adjust since we had two children in the group. Being a 2.5-hour journey, we decided not to make a fuss about it. Through the journey our ticketless co-passenger sat comfortably snacking on a bag of chips, fiddling around with an expensive smartphone worth nearly a lakh.

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Our confusion grew when, 45 minutes into the journey, three more people entered our compartment without tickets. Another woman asked my son to give her space stating she was old, mumbling she is a senior citizen. We were left puzzled and conflicted as four individuals without tickets occupied our bay. One of them strongly advocated for the other telling us that she would take a very little space.

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In the midst of this, my husband decided to take a break and got up from his seat, only to have another person without a ticket take his place, and a while later resulted in my husband and this individual sharing a seat. The count of people without tickets in our compartment had now reached five. My husband noticed that other compartments also had significant number of ticketless travellers adjusting with passengers who had tickets but there wasn't a single ticket collector in sight to check.

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This incident reminded me of a point raised by one of my lecturers during my preparation for the Civil Services in 2013. He mentioned that despite being the fourth-largest railway network in the world, Indian Railways has been running significant losses. Even in FY2021-22, the Indian Railways recorded a negative net revenue or loss?of ?15,024.58 crore. In fact a Parliamentary Standing Committee on Railways noted that there has been a continuous downward trend in revenues in the Railways over the past few years.

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My train journey made me reflect upon a few things:

·?????Certain individuals feel entitled to occupy seats without valid tickets, expecting others to accommodate them, disregarding the well-being of fellow passengers.

·?????This not only creates inconvenience but also adversely affects the overall travel experience of others, leaving a negative impression on those who generally appreciate rail travel.

·?????The absence of ticket collectors exposes loopholes that allow people to travel without tickets, impacting the revenue and efficiency of the system.

·?????Some individuals adhere to proper behaviour only when they know they are being checked or supervised, emphasising the need for external accountability to ensure adherence to rules and regulations.

·?????It is interesting to observe that some people may prioritise owning expensive gadgets or indulging in luxury experiences, yet hesitate to pay a rightfully deserved fee for essential services.

·?????Each individual should consider the factors contributing to losses and the potential impact on the quality of services provided.

·?????Lastly, this incident also serves as a reminder that both the authorities and passengers have a role to play in ensuring the smooth functioning and sustainability of public transportation.

In March 2023, The Railways Ministry took to Twitter to appreciate the efforts made by Rosaline Mary, a Southern-railway employee, the first-ever woman ticket-checking staff for collecting fines over Rs 1.03 crore from passengers who did not have train tickets. So there are many who fulfil their responsibility as customers and there are representatives of the system who do their duty diligently.

Many of us hold strong opinions about the lack of hygiene in railway coaches, sub-standard meals, unclean toilets and poorly maintained stations. It appears that there are many who expect top-notch services without shelling out even a handful of peanuts. The takeaways from this incident could be many, but mine is that I have made a personal resolve not to succumb to excuses and allow people to bully me/occupy my seat when I have fulfilled my responsibility.