CHENNAI: The Southern Railway (SR) collected Rs 20.19 lakh as penalty, the highest in a day this year, through intensive ticket checking drives in suburban and mail/express passenger trains to curb ticketless and irregular travel.

A team of 539 ticket checking staff on duty set a new record realising Rs.20.19 lakh in fines on a single day on October 12, a statement issued by SR said. This is the highest ever in a single day in the 2023-24 financial year, it added.

A total of 4,404 cases of ticketless/irregular travel were registered on October 12. Of them, 1,934 cases were registered for ticketless travel and Rs 10.25 lakh collected as penalty from defaulters.

Likewise, 1,832 cases were registered for travelling with irregular ticket and collected Rs 8.41 lakh as penalty. More than 615 cases of smoking and littering were also registered, a statement issued by the zonal railway said.