People wishing to leave Dhaka ahead of Eid queue up at Kamalapur Railway Station yesterday to buy advance tickets for
Bangladesh Railway started selling advance tickets yesterday to cope with the rush of people leaving Dhaka ahead of the Eid. It will be selling advance tickets till September 24.
Abu Hanif, 40, of Khilkhet, Dhaka went to Kamalapur Railway Station after Fazr prayers yesterday to get advance railway tickets for September 25.
"In the light of my experience in the past, I came early and got three tickets for Dinajpur standing in a queue for over four hours. Several hundred people reached the station before me," he said, adding, "Upon reaching the station, I saw at least three queues that snaked out of the station building."
Like Hanif, several hundred others thronged the Kamalapur Railway Station.
Station sources said even though advance ticket sales started at 8:00am, ticket seekers started gathering since early yesterday.
According to Railway sources, advance tickets are being sold between 8:00am and 4:00pm. Tickets for journeys on September 25 will be sold on September 18. Tickets for journeys for September 26 will be sold on September 19, September 27's on September 20, September 28's on September 21, September 29's on September 22 and September 30's on September 23.
Tickets for October 1 will also be sold on September 24 at Dhaka Airport, Joydevpur, Chittagong and Sylhet stations.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Railway authorities decided to operate trains from September 24 on their weekly holidays till the day before Eid and from the day after Eid till October 9. Four special trains will also be running during the Eid rush.
Sources said the special trains will be operated on Dhaka-Dewanbazar, Dhaka-Mymensingh, Dhaka (cantonment)-Rajshahi, Dhaka-Chittagong routes.
Extra compartments will also be added to all passenger trains including intercity trains, sources said.
Rezaul Haque, station manager of Kamalapur Railway Station, told The Daily Star, "As of 4:00pm, we sold 3,982 advance tickets and we have over 8,000 more tickets left to sell. As there were lot of tickets, we kept the counters open till 10:00pm and anybody will be allowed to have tickets till September 25 if they are available."
According to Bangladesh Railway officials, the demand for September 25 and September 26 tickets would not be more than the capacity of Bangladesh Railway. They think that ticket demand for journeys on September 27 and onwards would be high.
Sources said Bangladesh Railway will be capable of carrying around 27,000 passengers sitting and 25,000 more standing each day for three days from September 29.
Sources said Bangladesh Railway has train services to and from 50 districts including Noakhali, Chittagong, Sylhet, Khulna, Rajshahi, Lalmonirhat, Dinajpur, Mymensingh, Kishoreganj and other districts in between these destinations and Dhaka.
Rapid Action Battalion (Rab), Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) and Bangladesh Railway authorities have taken measures like opening of complaint centres, patrols and intelligence activities to prevent ticket scalping and other irregularities.
Station manager of Kamalapur Railway Station told The Daily Star, "Bangladesh Railway usually operates 22 intercity trains with 15,000 seats and 12 mail trains with 10,000 seats during Eid. It made arrangements for the four special trains with the 2,500 seats to run during the Eid rush."
"Most of the tickets will be sold at Kamalapur and the rest at Dhaka Cantonment and Joydevpur stations," the station manager said, adding, "All four special trains are air conditioned and no standing passengers will be allowed in these trains."
He said Bangladesh Railway carried over 27,000 standing passengers each day during the last three days leading up to last year's Eid-ul-Fitr. He said they will be able to carry at least the same number of standing passengers this year.
Bangladesh Railway Director General Belayet Hossain Wednesday told The Daily Star, "We have arranged extra trains and measures have been taken to prevent irregularities by vigilant activities and setting up complaint centres at every station where advance tickets will be sold."
Meanwhile, Rab-3 personnel yesterday morning detained 12 people at Kamalapur for causing public nuisance. They were later let off following interrogation.
Major Jaber Shama of Rab-3, entrusted with checking irregularities and ensuring security to railway passengers, said, "We have been monitoring ticket selling so that none gets the chance of scalping or do other irregularities."
"This year our plainclothes forces are deployed in and around the areas concerned," the Major said.
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