Mumbai, April 11 -- A geo-fencing glitch in the newly launched RailOne ticketing app has left Central Railway (CR) officials scrambling, after it emerged that passengers can book unreserved tickets while already on a moving local train, undermining a key safeguard against ticketless travel. The flaw in the ticketing app comes at a time when Mumbai's suburban rail network-its lifeline-is already strained by overcrowding and frequent delays. Officials said the app's geo-fencing feature, meant to allow ticket purchases only within station premises, has failed to block mid-journey bookings. The loophole effectively defeats the purpose of upgrading from the earlier UTS app, which had encountered multiple issues. Since early March, CR authorities have detected multiple cases of passengers booking tickets during an ongoing journey. The lapse surfaced during a routine ticket-checking drive on a Kalyan-bound AC local, when a passenger was caught with a ticket booked mid-ride. "The RailOne app's geo-fencing feature, designed to prevent such misuse, has failed entirely," said a CR official, requesting anonymity. "The geo-fencing system is designed to allow ticket booking only when a passenger is physically present at a station or within a designated zone. Its failure effectively reopens a loophole that we had earlier attempted to plug." CR has written to the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS), which developed RailOne, flagging the glitch and seeking immediate rectification. Officials said the system should allow commuters to book tickets while waiting on platforms, but block access once a train departs. Railway passenger associations believe the solution is straightforward. "All the railways have to do is allow the RailOne app to book tickets while a person is at the station," said Rajiv Singhal, a member of the Divisional Railway Users Consultative Committee, a commuter body appointed by the Indian Railways. "The majority of those caught without tickets are inside AC locals, for which the railway administration carried out drives. I had raised this issue, but the rail authorities explained that the airwaves used to generate signals for these apps have a certain range and cannot be restricted to the station premises. The fact, however, remains that AC local trains are one of the biggest reasons for disruption in the suburban train timetable," added Singhal. Railway officials admitted that ticketless travel is a concern on AC locals. Many commuters board AC locals without tickets during peak hours, often due to running late for work, said an official. Ticketless travel leads to overcrowding, and this is a major reason for the poor punctuality of AC local trains, added the official. "This impacts commuter movement, especially during morning and evening peak hours, when trains are delayed by an average of 10-15 minutes every day," said the official. The Main and Harbour lines on CR are among the worst hit. Since the introduction of AC locals on the CSMT-Panvel Harbour line, delays of 8-10 minutes have become common. Even WR officials admitted that running trains on time in Mumbai is a tough task. This, at a time when both CR and WR officially claim to have punctuality rates of 92% and 95%, respectively. The key issue lies in how punctuality is calculated. Under current railway norms, a train delayed by up to five minutes is considered "on time". Commuter groups questioned this methodology for calculating train punctuality, saying it masks the daily disruption faced by office-goers. "Not one day goes by when trains are not running late," said Rajesh Gangav, who stays in Kasara and travels to Shahad. "The AC locals are fewer in number and invariably run late due to the slightest delays in the system." A railway official said one of the most common reasons for crowding in AC trains is people hanging by the doors and blocking the automatic closing mechanism, which leads to delays. "Without door closure, the AC train cannot move forward. So, even if one AC train gets delayed by, say, five to seven minutes, as time progresses, it has a cascading effect with delays touching 20-25 minutes," added the official. Infrastructure constraints also continue to weigh heavily on the suburban railway network. "It will take another two to four years for various works to be completed. Moreover, we are running the trains at maximum output with little breathing space," said a WR official....