After taking initiatives to control ticket blackingBR sees major income surge in first quarter

The government is taking steps to make Bangladesh's rail services more efficient and profitable, said Sheikh Moinuddin, Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser on Road Transport, Bridges and Railways.

He said this while attending a review meeting on Bangladesh Railway's e-ticketing system and preparation of "Unified Ticketing Management System" on 24th August of 2025. Later, on 3rd September of 2025; he attended the second review meeting on same subject.

In order to prevent the losses incurred in the past few days and make Bangladesh Railway profitable, the company's Director General Eng. Md. Afzal Hossain, in consultation with Sheikh Mohiuddin, Special Assistant to the Chief Advisor of the current interim government, has taken some initiatives. These initiatives were taken from the earlier mentioned two review meeting.

According to the meeting, Bangladesh Railway decided to upgrade its ticketing system. To do so, the state-owned organisation implementing the machine learning based algorithm.

In light of the decision taken from the meeting, Sahoj Synesis Vincennes-Jv was instructed to automatically block suspicious accounts from the ticketing system with the aim of stopping black market in railway tickets. As per the instructions; Sahoj Synesis Vincennes-Jv takes following steps: 

Too many purchase Rule

Sahoj Synesis Vincennes-Jv now block those IDs which is purchasing more than two tickets from same device or the number of purchase is unusual.

Multiple accounts on the same device rule 

If multiple accounts (with different NIDs, phone numbers or payment informations) are used on the same device or browser; then Sahoj Synesis Vincennes-Jv will block all related accounts.

Suspicious payment rule 

Sahoj Synesis Vincennes-Jv now block those users if the same payment method is uacross ticket purchased from different accounts or payment activity looks unusual.

Bot/script usage rule

Sahoj Synesis Vincennes-Jv now block those users who try to purchase tickets using Bot/script instead of using normal app or browser.

Frequent cancel rule 

Sahoj Synesis Vincennes-Jv now block those users who repeatedly book tickets and cancel them.

It is to be noted that 2,799 suspicious IDs were blocked by Sahoj Synesis Vincennes-Jv from October 16, 2025 to November 16, 2025 from the ticketing system through Rule Engine.

After taking this timely initiatives, Bangladesh Railway earned Tk142 crore more in the first quarter of the current fiscal year compared to the same period last year across its two operational regions.

The Increased profit margin raising hopes that the state-owned entity may finally begin to shake off the chronic losses plaguing it for years.

Bangladesh Railway Director General Md Afzal Hossain attributed the improved performance to a series of initiatives.

"Previously, there was only one trip on the Cox's Bazar route with a single train. Now we are operating two trips. Special trains have also been introduced. Various initiatives and strengthened monitoring have boosted earnings," he said.

"Income from freight trains has decreased due to reduced imports from India, but passenger revenue has gone up. Once the locomotive shortage is resolved, the growth trend will continue. The income–expenditure gap will shrink. We hope this momentum will sustain," he added.

According to data from the Railway's Commercial Manager's Office, revenue in the Eastern Region rose by 34% to Tk310.75 crore in the July-September period of FY2025-26, up from Tk206.15 crore in the same period last fiscal year.

In the Western Region, income increased by 28%, rising from Tk133.53 crore to Tk 170.09 crore over the same period.

Railway officials said multiple measures have been taken to curb expenditure and increase income. Ticket checking has been strengthened and additional coaches have been added to high-demand routes, with a 20% surcharge imposed on luxury chair coaches and 30% on AC coaches added as supplementary units.

Again, more coaches and trains were deployed on busy routes during Eid, Puja, tourist seasons and holidays, which also helped boost revenue, officials informed.

An official from the Eastern Railway's Commercial Management Department said trains on the Cox's Bazar route previously operated with 16 coaches, which has now been increased to 23. Two additional coaches have also been added to three Sylhet-bound trains. Special trains have been operated as well, and the additional surcharges are being collected accordingly.

Facing years of chronic losses – averaging around Tk2,000 crore annually for the past 15 years - the interim government undertook several measures aimed at cutting costs and increasing income.

Officials believe that if quarterly revenues rise by Tk100-150 crore, year-end income could rise by Tk500-600 crore – significantly narrowing the deficit and moving the organisation closer to an income–expenditure balance.

For FY2025-26, the revenue target for the Eastern Railway has been set at Tk1,650 crore, compared to last year's Tk1,564.95 crore, while actual income stood at Tk1,076.32 crore.

The Western Railway's target for the current fiscal year is Tk1,343.38 crore, compared to a Tk1,159.96 crore target and Tk621.31 crore income in FY2024-25.