Mumbai’s New Train Ticketing App Has A Loophole — And Commuters Are Already Exploiting It

Ticketless travel on AC locals fuels overcrowding, which cascades into delays of 10–15 minutes daily — hitting you hardest during morning and evening peak hours.

Mumbai Local: Under current rules, a train delayed by up to five minutes is officially counted as ‘on time’. (File photo)

Mumbai’s RailOne ticketing app, meant to curb ticketless travel on local trains, has a glitch that lets passengers book tickets while already on a moving train — defeating its own purpose. Central Railway has flagged the issue to the app’s developer, even as AC locals continue to battle daily delays.

Is RailOne App Actually Stopping Ticketless Travel?

According to the Hindustan Times, the newly launched RailOne ticketing app has a serious flaw — its geo-fencing feature, which is supposed to allow ticket purchases only when you’re at a station, isn’t working properly.

• Passengers can book tickets while already on a moving train, defeating the whole point of the system.

• Central Railway (CR) caught the first case on a Kalyan-bound AC local during a ticket-checking drive.

• CR has flagged this to CRIS, the agency that built the app, and asked for an urgent fix.

Why Does This Matter For Honest Commuters?

• Ticketless travel — especially on AC locals — causes overcrowding.

• Overcrowding directly leads to delays, hitting you hardest during morning and evening peak hours.

• HT quoted officials as saying that AC locals are delayed by an average of 10–15 minutes every day because of this.

Are CR And WR Trains Really 92–95% Punctual, As They Claim?

Not quite, and here’s the catch:

• Under current rules, a train delayed by up to five minutes is officially counted as “on time.”

• Commuter groups say this formula hides the real picture of daily disruption.

• Even the Mumbai Dabbawala Association president Subhash Talekar told HT bluntly: “Passengers have become so used to delays that they no longer react.”

When Will Things Improve?

Don’t hold your breath:

• Infrastructure projects to ease congestion — new corridors, line expansions — are still two to four years away from completion.

• The Kurla-Parel-CSMT 5-6 lines project alone took 17 years just to clear encroachments.

• For now, officials admit trains are running at “maximum output with little breathing space.”

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