BR relaxes NID rule for travelling, buying tickets

Bangladesh Railway has decided to relax the rule that made it mandatory for passengers to show National Identity Card (NID) while travelling and buying tickets.

Moreover, from now on, the passengers will be able to purchase four tickets against one NID.

Senior Public Relations Officer Md Shariful Islam of Ministry of Railway confirmed the matter to Dhaka Tribune on Thursday.

He said: “Bangladesh Railway revised its previous decision as passengers were suffering from the move.”

On August 13, the Railways Ministry issued a notice asking the intercity train passengers to keep their NIDs and carry the exact mobile number that was used to buy the tickets, during travelling, or else they may face problems during the ticket checking.

Bangladesh Railway had taken the initiative in a bid to control black market ticket sales. 

Besides, Bangladesh Railway decided to resume operations of 18 more pairs (up-down) trains from August 27. 

Also Read - Railway authority to take strict action over black market ticket sales from Aug 16

At present, a total of 17 pairs (up-down) of intercity passenger trains are operating which will gradually be increased to 100 pairs by this month, said railway sources.

Currently, Bangladesh Railway sells tickets online only. 

Trains are now operating at 50% of their passenger capacity in order to ensure social distancing amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

The Bangladesh Railway suspended its operations on March 25 as the government was forced to declare a public holiday from March 26 to May 30 for the coronavirus outbreak. 

Once that ended, train services resumed on a limited scale from May 31, while allowing only eight pairs (up-down) of trains. 

However, nine more pairs (up-down) of passenger trains were added to the railway’s fleet after a couple of days. 

According to Railway Ministry sources, Bangladesh Railway decided to resume all train services as all its employees have been ordered to attend their respective offices from August 4 following a Cabinet Division decision.