Passengers wait for the arrival of a train on Yangon’s Circular Line. Pic: Hein Latt Aung

FINES went up earlier this month for passengers who ride the trains on Yangon’s Circular Line without buying tickets.

The fines are now K1000 for adults and K500 for children under the age of 10, up from the previous penalty of K100 for everyone.

An official at Myanma Railways said the fines were increased because many commuters were riding trains illegally despite the low price of tickets.

“We’ve raised the fine to enforce the rules and save wasted money,” he said.
Some commuters said they have also noticed an increase in efforts to check tickets.

“Last Saturday I took the train to the main station (in downtown Yangon), where all the passengers had to go through a single exit to have their tickets checked. Those without tickets were handed over to police,” he said.

He said more surprise checks were made onboard the trains on the following days.

Built in 1961, the Circular Line carries an estimated 100,000 passengers a day, show figures from Myanma Railways. A total of 185 trains travel on the line in clockwise or anti-clockwise directions every day.

Despite providing inexpensive and relatively comfortable service – tickets on the line are K10 and K20 compared to K40 to K120 for buses – the Circular Line is not as popular with commuters as public buses.