Bangladesh Railway will fine passengers if they are found making train journeys without any photo ID on their person from Apr 7, the day the services will open the sale of advanced tickets for Eid-ul-Fitr holidaymakers.
Sandeep Debnath, chief executive officer of Bangladesh Railway’s ticketing partner Shohoz-Synesis-Vinsen JV, made the announcement on Saturday.
In order to stop black marketers of tickets, railway authorities from Mar 1 made it mandatory for ticket purchasers to show either their national ID or passport or birth registration certificate.
As of now, purchasers can buy a maximum of four tickets under their names.
From Apr 7, Shohoz-Synesis-Vinsen JV will start printing the names of the passengers on their respective tickets, which means a purchaser also needs to add information about their fellow travellers when purchasing more than one ticket, according to a recent Facebook post by the ticketing agency.
Ticket checkers are instructed to ask for both ticket and photo ID in order to verify passengers, Sandeep said.
“Purchasers only need to show their own ID while buying tickets. However, checkers will verify the names and IDs of each individual once during the journey,” he said.
The Facebook post, however, does not say what kind of action a passenger will face if they do not carry their photo IDs.
“We will issue fines against those who violate the latest rules,” Sandeep said.
A visit to Shohoz’s online ticketing system reveals that the system of adding the names of fellow passengers is already integrated.
Unless a purchaser writes the full names of their fellow passengers in the star-marked empty boxes under passengers 2/3/4, the system did not allow a purchaser to “proceed” to the following steps to purchase the tickets.
Bangladesh Railway will only use Shohoz’s online platform to sell advanced tickets ahead of the Eid-ul-Fitr festivities this year, starting from Apr 7.
On Apr 7, the tickets for Apr 17 will be released, while the tickets for Apr 18, 19, 20, and 21 will be released on Apr 8, 9, 10 and 11, respectively.
The return tickets will be made available for Eid holidaymakers from Apr 17.
Passengers who cannot buy tickets online will be allowed to purchase standing tickets from the station counters.
