Passengers opt for rail, airline services as buses off highways

Rail and airways have been attracting an increased number of passengers as long-haul bus operators enforce strike for the last few days.

As passengers increasingly leaned on the railway network, the operator is struggling to provide services.

People are also avoiding the bus journey amid dilapidated condition on the highways.

The condition is feared to get worse ahead of the Eid-ul-Azha festival to be celebrated next month when the mad rush for leaving the city would begin, said officials.

Visiting the Kamalapur Railway Station on Saturday, this correspondent saw long queue of passengers.  Nilsagor Express, a Northern region-bound train left Kamalapur one hour later than its usual schedule.

More than 300 people were in the train with standing tickets apart from its 750 regular passengers.

Md Aslam Ali (Bipu), a Rangpur-based official of an NGO (non-governmental organisation) was traveling with standing ticket.

He told the FE that buses had stopped operating for the last three days, which forced him to travel by train.

He said all the tickets of Northern-based trains like Ekota, Rangpur Express, Lalmoni Express and Nilsagor were sold out three days earlier.

Banker Shajibur Rahman said a good number of tickets have ended up in the hands of black marketers.

"I've bought two A/C berth tickets of Nilsagor Express at Tk 4,500 against actual price of Tk 3,320," he said.

Md Mian Jahan, additional director (operation) of Bangladesh Railway, said the number of train passengers has increased significantly.

The number of passengers has doubled in the last few days.

He said the Railway authorities are trying its best to provide services to as many people as possible, despite its limited capacity.

"We've instructed the Kamalapur station and requested the Railway Police to stop rooftop journey," he said.

However, the Bus Truck Owners' Association (BBTOA) and Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association stopped running even inter-district night coaches from Saturday night, the associations said in a statement.

Leaders of the transport associations took the decision for the safety of their vehicles and passengers in view of the ongoing students' protest across the country, president of the BBTOA Faruqe Talukdar Sohel said.

Meanwhile, tickets of different airlines became pricier in past week.

Ticket prices have doubled or in some cases tripled, according to passengers.

Operators and travel agents blamed each other for the spike.

Air tickets of Dhaka-Saidpur, which is normally Tk 2,250 to Tk 3,250 rose to Tk 5,200 to Tk 8,700 per ticket, said Arifuzzaman Mithu, an official at a private company in Uttara EPZ, Nilphamari.

Md Masudur Rahman, a travel agent, told the FE that operators like Novo Air, US Bangla and Regent raised the price by curtailing the number of low-priced tickets.

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