The Bangladesh Railway (BR) will start selling advance tickets today (Wednesday) to city residents looking to celebrate the upcoming Eid-ul Fitr at their village homes.
For the first time, the train tickets will be sold at five different points in the city, including the Kamalapur Railway Station, aiming to ease hassles of ticket seekers, said BR officials.
The four other places are Airport Railway Station, Banani Railway Station, Tejgaon Railway Station and the Old Rail Bhaban in Fulbaria area, according to the BR.
Tickets for intercity trains for May 31 will be available on the first day and tickets for June 1, 2, 3 and 4 on May 23, 24, 25 and 26 respectively.
The sale of tickets will begin at 9:00am and will continue until 4:00pm.
One person can buy a maximum of four tickets at a time while 50 per cent of a total of 28,000 tickets will be sold online.
If Eid is celebrated on June 6, tickets for June 5 would also be available at the counter, said the officials.
Tickets to the destinations in Rajshahi, Rangpur and Khulna divisions will be sold at the Kamalapur Railway Station and tickets to Chattogram at the Airport Station.
Tejgaon Railway Station will sold tickets to Mymensingh and Jamalpur districts while Netrakona-bound passengers can collect their tickets at the Banani Station.
Sylhet- and Kishoreganj-bound passengers will get tickets to their destinations at the Old Rail Bhaban.
BR Director General Qazi Md Rafiqul Alam said ticket seekers suffer a lot at the Kamalapur Railway Station during every Eid, as most of them even spend the whole night at the station to collect tickets in the morning.
"So, we have now decided to sell tickets from different outlets to lessen the sufferings of the holidaymakers," he said.
He also said, "We are now working to ensure safe and smooth journey of the home-goers."
A new train will be running on Dhaka-Panchagarh route from May 25, he added.
The biggest rush could be seen at the ticket counters on May 25 and May 26 when tickets for June 3 and June 4 will be available, he said.
He also said trains might also witness the biggest rush on June 3 and June 4. "We have taken a preparation accordingly so that people can reach their destinations safely."
Meanwhile, sale of advance bus tickets both private and government operators have now been going on.
Launch operators also started selling advance cabin tickets from Monday.
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