Turkey's bus companies, terminals facing tightened security measures

The list of new arrangements, which were decided upon after consultations between the Transportation Ministry and the police, will make it compulsory for bus companies to check each passenger’s identity card and note their identity number in order to prevent incidents similar to the June 28 attack on Istanbul Atatürk Airport.

With the new measures each passenger will only be issued one ticket for themselves, as one person from a family will no longer be able to purchase tickets for all family members. 

The companies will be asked to note the identity card numbers for all their customers, while it was being debated whether those numbers would also be printed on paper tickets. 

Bus companies are set to be fined if they are caught carrying passengers without tickets and the police are expected to tighten security checks at terminal entrances and exits to intervene against such incidents. 

The structure of bus terminals was also subject to change, as two checkpoints were expected to be set up at each terminal.

Just like at an airport, relatives and friends of passengers will also be subjected to security checks when they arrive at the terminal to bid farewell. 

Tickets will be controlled at a second checkpoint and persons without a ticket will not be able to cross. This measure was intended prevent people other than passengers from approaching the vehicles. 

Accordingly, more police officers, private security guards and plainclothes officials were set to be on duty at terminals. 

Turkey has been targeted by a series of terror attacks over the past year, the latest at Istanbul Atatürk Airport blamed on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) that killed 45 and wounded hundreds of others.