— bdnews24.com The second day of advance Eid ticket sales in Bangladesh has seen little crowd at bus counters for northern and southwestern routes, as more passengers opted to purchase tickets online.
A visit to several counters in Dhaka's Kalyanpur and Mazar Road after 10am on Saturday revealed that most were nearly empty, reports bdnews24.com.
Only a few passengers came to buy tickets, primarily for same-day travel. No one was found purchasing advance Eid tickets at that time.
Transport operators said ticket sales were mostly taking place online, reducing the rush at counters.
Monirul Islam, a sales representative of SR Travels in Kalyanpur, said they
were selling advance tickets for March 25-30, but passenger turnout at counters was low.
"Most tickets are listed online, and that's where sales are happening. We are selling the remaining tickets at the counter. The pressure for advance tickets at counters is not like before," he said.
A sales staffer at Agomoni Express told bdnews24.com, "We have two buses -- one departs in the morning, and the other at night. The Eid tickets were made available online. Tickets for March 28 and the night of March 30 are in high demand. Some people came to the counter on Friday."
Md Jamal Hossain, a salesman at Shyamoli NR Paribahan, said they were not selling tickets at counters anymore.
"All sales have been shifted online," he told bdnews24.com.
Hanif Paribahan's representative Md Raihan echoed a similar sentiment.
"There are a few passengers at the counter, but most of the time, it remains empty. There's no significant crowd yet, though it may increase later," he said.
Most of the tickets for major bus operators have already been sold online.
A review of online ticket platforms showed that demand for buses from Dhaka to Rangpur and other northern districts surged from March 28 onwards.
Tickets for routes to Rangpur, Dinajpur, Thakurgaon, Lalmonirhat, and Kurigram were in high demand.
Major transport companies such as Hanif, Shyamoli, SR, and Nabil had no available tickets. However, some lesser-known transport services still had tickets available.
Bus operators started selling advance Eid tickets on Friday for journeys scheduled between March 25 and 31, covering the seven days leading up to Eid-ul-Fitr.
On Mar 7, Bangladesh Bus-Truck Owners' Association Acting General Secretary Shuvankar Ghosh Rakesh told bdnews24.com that the decision to begin ticket sales was made at a preparatory meeting on Thursday.
"Passengers will be able to buy bus tickets both online and at counters from Mar 14," he said.
To prevent passengers from being overcharged, a monitoring team would oversee terminals before and after Eid, according to the acting general secretary.
"No extra fare beyond the approved list can be charged. All bus owners have been instructed accordingly," he said.
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