They extort money from tourists. We went to Samarkand by train - at first, under any pretext, they offered to fill out a declaration and pay a fine "from the bottom of my heart, no matter how much I feel sorry for, at least $ 10." Then other "employees" in uniform say, "everything is fine, brother, but your name is written in English in the migration card. You're not a US citizen, you should have been in Russian. Please pay the fine, the amount of the fine is fraternal. Otherwise, they have to get off the train, and it's about to leave."
I advise you to arrive at the station in advance, take less money, prepare strong nerves and your eloquence :)
In general, this railway organized criminal group greatly spoils the impression of the wonderful country of Tajikistan, this is some kind of shame.
I sent friends in March, everything is casual and normal. We quickly passed the control, baggage check, and ticket stamps - and we are on the platform.
An ordinary train station, there are few people, the ticket office system is extremely inconvenient (To return a ticket, you need to get a stamp from the attendant, only then they return the money, but with a 30% commission), the technical equipment is old or completely absent.