The Dhaka Mass Transit Company Ltd (DMTCL) has redesigned single-journey tickets for the Dhaka Metro Rail, omitting four images symbolic of Bangladesh's language and independence struggles.

The new design has drawn widespread social media criticism, with many questioning the decision to remove these historic representations.

The change came to public attention after DMTCL, which operates the metro rail, introduced 20,000 of the redesigned single-journey tickets.

These new tickets no longer feature images of the Central Shaheed Minar, National Mausoleum, National Parliament Building, and the national flower, the water lily.

Instead, they display only an image of the metro rail itself.

These images recently went viral on Facebook. Collected

The redesign followed the missing of approximately 200,000 single-journey tickets, which authorities suspect were taken by passengers instead of being returned after their trips.

Since its launch in December 2022, DMTCL has offered two types of cards: the MRT Pass (a permanent card) and the single-journey ticket.

Previously, both cards included the symbolic images and looked nearly identical apart from minor textual differences, which reportedly caused confusion at metro gates.

Md Zakaria, additional project director for MRT Line-6, said that the missing tickets were disrupting operations. To address this, DMTCL has ordered 440,000 new single-journey tickets from Japan, with 20,000 already in circulation.

The design change was necessary to create a clear distinction between the two types of cards and reduce operational issues at the gates, he added.

He also said that some passengers mistakenly attempted to reuse single-journey tickets with "touch and go" methods similar to the MRT Pass.

"So, we had to change the colour of the card and by doing so we had to change the design as well," he said.

Many questioned the decision to remove symbols reflecting the nation's heritage as these symbols are directly linked to the country's liberation, language movement and identity, and has no connection with any political parties.

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However, many defended the changes, pointing out that metrocards in many countries do not display such images.

Asked about the social media criticism, he said, "We wanted to make 'specific difference' between MRT Pass and single-journey ticket. What can we do if some people raise eye-brows?"

Contacted, DMTCL Managing Director Mohammad Abdur Rouf said, "The images were omitted to avoid confusion between MRT pass and single-journey ticket. There is no other purpose behind it."

Besides, he said, the single-journey ticket will remain within the station and they would not change the design of the MRT Pass, which is widely used. 

Rouf also said the decision to change the design was taken before he took charge.

The MRT Line-6 project, which spans from Uttara to Kamalapur at a cost of Tk 33,472 crore, opened its Uttara-Motijheel section to the public in November 2023.

Construction on the Motijheel-Kamalapur section is ongoing.