Bangladesh Railway will halt the online sale of train tickets from March 21 to 25, said the Ministry of Railways.
The sales will be stopped for that period as the service provider was changed and the new provider is taking charge. All tickets will be sold over the counter, said Railway Minister Md Nurul Islam, reports bdnews24.com.
Bangladesh Railway has signed a five-year contract with a joint venture by Shohoz, Synesis and Vincen on Feb 15 to run the railway ticketing system, the minister said. Previously, another company called CNS used to sell online tickets.
Shohoz bagged the work order through an open tender, he said.
The new company has been assigned to modernise the railway and provide better service to its passengers, the minister said.
“Bangladesh Railway lacks the capacity to sell online tickets and has to depend on private companies for now,” he said.
According to the contract, Shohoz, Synesis and Vincen will keep running the current CCSRTS system initially, and will replace it with BRITS in the next 18 months.
CNS Ltd will run the computerised ticketing system for intercity trains until Mar 20, he said. Shohoz, Synesis and Vincen will need a minimum of five days to do some work in the system to keep it operational at 77 stations.
As Bangladesh Railway cannot stop its ticket sales entirely, even for a day, so tickets will still be sold at counters.