Mumbai: The Central Railway (CR) has decided to make the daily local train ride more rewarding for commuters with the launch of the Lucky Yatri Yojana, an initiative that promises a daily cash prize of Rs 10,000 and a weekly bumper prize of Rs 50,000 for one lucky ticket holder picked at random from stations on the suburban system.
Expected to roll out next week, the scheme will run for eight weeks and aims to incentivise travelling with a ticket or season pass. Sponsored by FCB Interface Communication Pvt Ltd, the scheme comes at no additional cost to passengers.
CR sees an average daily ridership of 40 lakh. Rough estimates peg the share of people travelling without a ticket at 20%. During regular ticket-checking drives, 4,000 to 5,000 ticketless travellers are caught daily.
“This initiative is designed to encourage passengers to buy tickets and reward regular commuters. Every day, one lucky ticket holder will win Rs 10,000, while the winner picked every week will be awarded Rs 50,000,” Swapnil Nila, chief public relations officer, CR, said.
The winner will be selected randomly at stations by a ticket checker. “The lucky commuter will be asked to produce a valid ticket or season pass. Upon verification, the cash prize will be handed over immediately,” Nila said.
The scheme is open to all, whether travelling with a daily ticket or a season pass, and in any class.
The announcement generated excitement among lakhs of suburban commuters. “I travel daily from Kalyan to CST. The thought of winning Rs 10,000 just for buying a ticket is exciting. For once, the railways are thinking beyond fare hikes,” Virendra Pawar, a regular commuter, said.
Shruti Desai from Dombivli echoed the sentiment, saying, “It’s a great initiative to discourage ticketless travel. I hope the scheme runs long enough to see a real impact.”
CR officials clarified that the scheme will not burden passengers with extra charges. “It is purely an incentive-driven initiative, fully sponsored by a private firm. We hope this will motivate more commuters to travel with valid tickets,” an official said.
The railways have launched a series of initiatives to ensure hassle-free booking of tickets. Apart from automatic ticket vending machines, it has also introduced mobile ticketing apps.