Railway passengers must carry ID documents from 1 March

The Bangladesh Railways has made it compulsory for passengers to carry copies of their identification documents while travelling by train from 1 March.

The decision has been taken to prevent black market ticket sales and curb fare dodging, Railway Minister Nurul Islam Sujan said today.

Commuters will be able to get registered for purchasing ticket with their national ID cards, birth certificates or passports from 16 February. The registration can be done online (via the railway website: https://eticket.railway.gov.bd or Rail Sheba app) and via mobile SMS. For foreigners, registration will require a passport number and photo.

Other facilities are the use of point-of-sales or PoS machines in ticket-checking procedures and refund option in purchasing tickets online. 

"All the facilities will come into effect on 1 March. The railway is working to improve customer services under the slogan 'Ticket Jar Bhromon Tar' [roughly translates that travelling is possible only when commuters have their own tickets]," the minister said in a press conference at the Rail Bhaban in the capital.

He hoped that the new facilities would stop black market ticket sales and ticketless travelling.  

The authorities will initially add 100 PoS machines to the current ticket-checking system, which will also allow customers to pay digitally.

The PoS machine has software installed within that connects the machines with the central database of the Bangladesh Railway. As a result, the authenticity of a ticket, be it bought online or offline, can be verified instantly, while tickets of any route can be provided much more quicker.

With the introduction of the online refund option, it is no longer needed to visit a station in person to get a refund. Refunds can be collected through the Rail Sheba app or the railway ticketing portal.

"The initiative is expected to benefit commuters," the minister added.