The newly appointed railways minister, Md Nurul Islam Sujan, has pledged to ensure quality services and take the rail within the reach of the masses.
"Maintaining standards of the railway is my express aim," he said on Sunday.
To achieve the goal, Mr Sujan spoke of taking pragmatic steps soon to make the rail a most trusted and environment-friendly mode of transport.
His ministry is doing everything to lessen hassle of service recipients, the minister mentioned.
Mr Sujan held his first view-exchange meeting with the media at Rail Bhaban where he shared plans to bring transparency in the ticketing system.
The media often reports on black ticketing-a vice that sometimes overshadows the ministry's progress, he said.
Mr Sujan said NID (national identity) cards could help overcome this problem. "A device can be developed that will seek the NID number before issuing a ticket."
"By doing so, we can screen ticket buyers. No ticketing without NID. We can pilot it. If any problem arises with the system, we can sit and solve it," he stated.
A parliamentarian from Panchagarh-2 constituency, Mr Sujan said state minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak would visit his ministry later this month to discuss modernisation of rail service.
Enhancing efficiency and skill of the management at a satisfactory level would be another challenge to be met, he reckoned.
As to whether he has any timeline for any particular agenda, Mr Sujan said: "I've adopted a less talk, more work policy. You will see what I want to do."
"I always keep our [Awami League] election manifesto with me because it reminds me of our promises," he said emphatically.
Citing railway a top priority globally, the minister said the present government is also implementing two of its fast-track projects in the sector.
Apart from commuter service, he said they need to enhance the rail's container-handling capacity as businesses are expanding fast in the country.
At the same time, the government wants to link rail with all economic hubs like port and economic zone to create a network of faster transportation of goods.
"We want to ensure smooth service for all categories of the service recipients," the minister added.
Railways secretary Md Mofazzel Hossain and Bangladesh Railway additional director generation (rolling stock) Md Shamsuzzaman and BR general manager Md Harun-ar-Rashid, among others, were present.
jubairfe1980@gmail.com