Advance bus tickets likely from July 14

Advance bus tickets will likely be available from July 14 (Ramadan 15) for home-bound passengers ahead of the Eid-ul-Fitr to be observed late this month.
Private bus operators are going to face a rush of home-bound people ahead of the Eid to be observed across the country within few weeks.
The bus owners were yet to fix the exact date to put the tickets on sale. It might be finalised after 10th of Ramadan (July 9), officials said. But, concerned officials of the leading bus operators said the tentative date was Ramadan 15 (July14).
Mainly passengers of 16 districts of Rangpur and Rajshahi divisions and 10 districts of Jessore and Khulna regions will collect the tickets.
Samad Mandal, manager of Hanif Paribahan, the biggest private bus operator in the country, said: "The Bus-Truck Owners Association will take the decision after 10th Ramdan. We are eager to sell tickets earlier to tackle the rush during the festival".
He, however, said the fare would be same as of the last Eid-ul-Fitr - Tk 50 more than the usual price.
"But the final rate will be fixed after discussion with the government," he said.
The usual bus fare is now Tk 400 (Sirajganj) to Tk 650 (Panchagarh) on the north-western routes and Tk 500 (Satkhira) to Tk 650 (Bagerhat) on the southern routes.
Counter Manager (Kalyanpur) of north-western region-bound SR Paribahan Md Nobi said the bus operators would be under pressure as a large number of people would collect tickets particularly for four days --- July 24 to 27.
"As per our prediction, July 24 tickets will be the most sought-after ones," he said.
"Tickets from July 23 to 28 will be counted as advance tickets," he said.  
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Railway (BR) sources said the BR was yet to take any decision on selling advance tickets.
A BR official said a meeting of the ministry would be held within few days where the date would be fixed for selling advance tickets.