Co-passenger’s name must while buying multiple railway tickets

Bangladesh Railway has made it mandatory to mention the name of the fellow passenger while buying multiple tickets to thwart the ticket black market.

The move, which comes as part of implementing the policy of travelling with own tickets, was announced yesterday by Sandeep Debnath, CEO of Shohoz-Synesis-Vincen JV, which maintains the railway's ticketing system.

With the new policy in effect, passengers while purchasing multiple tickets will have to fill in the names for each ticket before they can proceed next on the ticket purchase page on the railway's e-ticket website.

Shohoz-Synesis-Vincen JV, in a facebook post, said that from 7 April, the names on the tickets must match the name on the passenger's NID or Photo ID and all passengers must carry their NID.

Earlier on 22 March, Railway Minister Nurul Islam Sujon told a press brief that a passenger can purchase a maximum of one Eid ticket and a maximum of four tickets at a time.

Welcoming the move, which aims to help thwart the ticket black market, passengers stressed that on time train movement must be ensured to increase the quality of service.

A help desk has been set up near the ticket counter of the Kamalapur station to help passengers, who have not yet made their online registration.

Mahfazur Rahman, a Rangpur-bound passenger, said the e-ticketing system will end the hassle of buying tickets through a crowd of people.

"I can now easily buy tickets online without any trouble," said Mahfuzur.