Long queues as sale of Eid train tickets begins

People in large numbers queue up to buy train tickets at Kamalapur station on Saturday as the railway opened sale of advance tickets ahead of Eid. — FE photo by KAZ Sumon

Sales of advance train tickets for the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr began at five railway stations in Dhaka on Saturday.
The authorities started selling train tickets for April 27 at 8:00am at Kamlapur, Airport, Tejgaon, Cantonment and Phulbaria rail stations.
Kamalapur railway station was abuzz with ticket-seekers and the 16 counters selling advance tickets were busy serving them in long queues.
Tickets for all intercity trains and Khulna-bound special trains will be available at Kamlapur railway station.
Tickets for Chattogram-and Noakhali-bound trains will be available at Airport railway station while tickets for Mymensingh, Jamalpur, and Dewanganj-bound special trains will be sold at Tejgaon railway station.
Tickets for Netrakona-bound Mohonganj Express and Haor Express will be available at Cantonment station and Sylhet and Kishoreganj-bound trains at Phulbaria railway station.
Station Manager Masud Sarwar told reporters that the authorities have set a sales target of 27,000 tickets each day up to Eid.
Half of these tickets will be sold at the station counters and the other half online, he said.
Many have been enduring a long wait, up to 12 to 14 hours, to get tickets in their hands.
Travellers seeking train tickets are required to show their national identity cards or photocopies of their birth certificates.
An individual can buy up to four tickets but in that case, the NIDs or birth certificates of each of the other three passengers must be shown.
Tickets for April 29 will go on sale on Monday, April 30 on Tuesday and May 1 on Wednesday.
Return trips will start on May 5, sale of tickets for which will begin on May 1.
Eid-ul-Fitr is likely to be celebrated on May 2, subject to moon sighting.
Accordingly, Bangladesh Railway has started sales of train tickets nine days ahead.
However, if Eid falls on May 3, tickets for May 2 will be sold on April 28.
Shohoz in a statement took credit of online ticket selling.
"This is the first time in the history of railway ticketing that millions of customers are successfully buying Eid tickets. The full credit for this goes to Shohoz," said the statement.
More than 50,000 tickets were sold in the first hour of the sale, it said.
Passengers are able to buy tickets from the official website of Bangladesh Railway.
According to bdnews24.com, Kamalapur station was abuzz with travellers, with long queues facing the 16 counters selling advance tickets.
But many have been enduring a gruelling wait to get their hands on tickets. Sanjida Akhtar, who is planning to leave the capital for the holidays, said, "I arrived at 7:30 pm yesterday.
It's now 8:15 am and I finally got a ticket for the Kurigram Express. Look at the hours I spent waiting. But at least I got the ticket."
Station Manager Masud Sarwar said the authorities have set a sales target of 27,000 tickets each day in the lead up to Eid.
Half of these tickets will be sold at the station counter and the other half online.
"The sale of advance tickets online and over the counter has started. Tickets are available at five stations in Dhaka."
"As long as tickets are available, passengers will be able to buy them."
Another woman named 'Saira' said she also waited overnight to get tickets to Rangpur for herself and three other family members.
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