Bangladesh Railway has made a National Identity (NID) card mandatory for passengers to buy rail tickets in a bid to prevent the black marketing of tickets.

Railway Minister Nurul Islam Sujon disclosed this at a press conference at Rail Bhaban on Wednesday.

The railway minister said the registration can be done online (via the railway website: https://eticket.railway.gov.bd or the Rail Sheba app) and via mobile SMS, while for foreigners, the registration will require a passport number and photo.

He said Bangladesh Railway has included three services in the ticketing system, which will be effective March 1. The services include installing the Point of Cell (POC) machine to check tickets and facilitating the return of online tickets, if necessary.

Sujon said those travelling by train have been asked to carry a copy of their NID, birth certificate, passport, or an ID card with a photo.

Initially, 100 Point of Sales (PoS) machines will be added to the current ticket-checking system so that tickets can be issued with online payment or cash.

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 for any route can be provided much quicker, according to the minister.

The initiative is expected to benefit commuters as per the TVC (Time, Cost, Visit) model.

Sujon said they have made some changes to the ticketing system in a bid to build a "Smart Bangladesh’. The initiative has been taken to increase the facilities for the passengers.