Central Railway’s Mumbai Division in a bold and decisive move to elevate travel experience, while prioritizing the safety and comfort of passengers, undertook a unique initiative to curb irregular travel and uphold the standards of its AC local commuters.
On May, 25 th 2024, CR introduced a dedicated AC Class Task Force to address issues related to irregular traveling in suburban trains. A specialized squad has been deployed to respond promptly to commuter concerns, aided by a dedicated 24/7 WhatsApp complaint number, 7208819987. This innovative approach allows passengers to report incidents of irregular travel, ensuring immediate assistance during peak hours and subsequent follow-ups as required.
Response to every complaint received on the dedicated whatsapp number is immediate. If the Special Squad is in the particular section mentioned in the complaint, they immediately swing into action, However if the Squad in not immediately available, then action is taken the very next day.
During the period 25 th May-2024 to 10 th March-2025, a total of 8735 complaints were received to this number of which 157 were attended to immediately while 8578 complaints were addressed the next day marking a 100% resolution of complaints . This proactive enforcement has led to a notable decline in complaints, with daily average of complaints dropping heavily from 79 in June-2024 to 11 in March-2025. The maximum complaint received per day has also come down from 228 per day in June-2024 to 23 as on 10.3.2025.
Based on a thorough analysis of complaints received, action taken and deployment of special squads, an astonishing 82,776 travelers were detected traveling without proper tickets in AC locals and an amount of Rs.2.71 crore were recovered as penalty during the period 25 th May-2024 to 10 th March-2025 which makes it an average of 348 passengers traveling without proper tickets daily with average recovery of Rs.1.14 lakh per day.
This initiative has garnered significant praise from passengers who appreciated the proactive stance taken by Central Railway to maintain the sacrosance of its premium services.
Apart from the AC Class Task Force, Central Railway conducts intensive ticket checking drives in AC locals to curb ticketless travel.
These checks have enabled detection of 92,217 cases of irregular travel in AC locals during the FY 2024-25 (till 9 th March-2025), yielding an amount of Rs.3.03 crore as penalty as against 40,335 cases during FY 2023-24 yielding Rs.1.33 crore as penalty. This indicates an increase by 128% in no of cases and 126% in penalty amount over last year.
Notably, Mumbai Suburban Network of Central Railway carries approximately 3.9 million passengers every day through its 1810 services daily including 66 AC local services daily carrying approximately 78000 passengers per day.
Central Railway’s Mumbai Division aims to achieve zero complaints regarding irregular travel in AC local coaches. The introduction of the dedicated WhatsApp complaint number along with regular checks has significantly aided in achieving this objective. Passengers are encouraged to utilize the WhatsApp complaint number, 7208819987, to report any instances of irregular travel they observe. It may be noted that the dedicated number is only for messaging the issue on the given number and that no phone calls can be made on the same.
Central Railway appeals to its passengers to travel with dignity by purchasing proper tickets in order to avoid inconvenience.
