Home-goers’ desperate bid for train, bus tickets

FE Report | Published: July 14, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: July 13, 2015 23:39:27

A large number of home-goers are on a desperate hunt for tickets to celebrate the upcoming festival of Eid-ul Fitr with their near and dear ones.
The Kamalapur Railway Station witnessed the highest rush Monday when advance tickets for July 17 were already sold out.
Apart from Kamalapur, hundreds of ticket-seekers were seen anxiously moving from one ticket selling counter to another of various modes of transports since early hours to get tickets.
Many home-goers alleged they had managed tickets from black-marketers at much higher rates while many others said they failed to collect those even offering much higher prices.
However, private bus operators said most of the tickets for July 14 to July 17 for Rajshahi, Rangpur and Khulna divisions have already been sold out.
The Eid-ul Fitr will be observed on July 18 or July 19 based on sighting of the Shawal moon. July 16 (Thursday) is the last office day before Eid.
Visiting the Kamalapur Railway Station Monday at 10 am, the FE correspondents found hundreds of people in a state of hope and despair over getting tickets.
Apart from the ticket-seekers, presence of regular passengers at the station also started increasing significantly from Monday.
Bangladesh Railway's (BR) advance ticket sale programme ended on the day. Train tickets for July 13 to July 17 were sold out between July 09 and July 13.
If Eid is not to be celebrated on July 18, then tickets for the day will be sold in the evening of July 17 at the Kamalapur Railway Station, manager of the station Shitangshu Chakravarty told the FE.
He said apart from hundreds of regular passengers, minimum 45,000 people stood in queue Monday to get tickets for July 17.
He said 13,000 tickets of inter-city train are being sold out from the Kamalapur Railway Station counters every day.
Nearly 32,000 people were set to return empty-handed from Kamalapur on the day, according to Mr Chakravarty.
The people, whose serials were much far in the queue, were totally hopeless.
The serial of Md Sultan Ali, a garment buying house employee, was 223 at the counter no 14 at the Kamalapur Railway Station.
"I don't know whether I will get tickets or not for Drutojan Express or Ekota Express to go to my village in Dinajpur," he said.
Mr Sultan said if he doesn't get train tickets, he will again go to Gabtoli and Kallyanpur to buy bus tickets for Friday.
Visiting the SR Paribahan, Shyamoli Paribahan, Hanif Paribahan and Nabil Paribahan, four major private operators at Gabtoli and Kallyanpur on Monday afternoon, it was found many people were on mad rush for tickets from counter to counter.
Md Gausul Ajam (Suman), a private bank official said he managed three tickets for Rangpur-bound SR Paribahan at Tk 1700 per ticket against actual price of Tk 750, about 126 per cent higher price.
A big portion of the tickets has gone to the hands of black-marketers with the help of bus counter officials, he alleged.
Like him, several hundred ticket-seekers were seen trying to buy tickets desperately at the ticket counters at Kalabagan, College Gate, Shyamoli, Kallyanpur and Gabtoli Mazar Road on the day.
When asked about black marketing, manager of SR Paribahan of Kallyanpur counter Md Nabi told the FE there is no chance of ticket black-marketing.
He said the ticket price for A/C bus of Rangpur has been fixed at Tk 1500 for Eid and all tickets for July 14 to July 17 have been sold out.
President of Bangladesh Bus Truck Owners Association (BBTOA) Md Faruq Talukder said the bus operators with the help of the law-enforcers have been trying hard to combat black-marketing.
He said: "Everyone should know it that capacity of the private bus operators is not enough against the actual demand during the Eid season."
He said ten major transport companies can provide 0.22 million tickets for 29 districts of Rangpur, Rajshahi, Khulna and Dhaka divisions before Eid while the demand is three times higher than the capacity.
Medium and small transport companies somehow meet the needs of passengers to some extent during such peak period, he admitted.
However, many of the Barisal division inhabitants in the capital told the FE tickets of 2400-2450 cabins of nearly 130 launches and ships have been sold out in advance.
Most of the cabin tickets have gone to the VIPs and black-marketers, according to sources.
Meanwhile, the National Committee to Protect Shipping, Roads and Railway (NCPSRR) Monday asked for stopping sale of tickets at black markets.
Adviser to the committee Manzurul Ahsan Khan claimed in a statement that a section of railway officials and private transport owners sold out tickets to black-marketers to cash in on the mad rush of home-goers.
"But unfortunately neither the transport owners nor the government pay any attention to the issue that causes untold miseries to the people," he said in his statement.
He urged the government to strictly enforce the country's existing laws to protect the common people from being harassed by the seasonal trouble-makers.
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