Passengers allege train ticket crisis, bus fare hike
The online battle for buying train and bus tickets for journey home from Dhaka on the Eid-ul-Fitr holiday began on Friday.
The advance sale of tickets started with hundreds of thousands of people hitting the servers to get tickets.
Bangladesh Railway started selling all tickets online at 8:00am, but many alleged that they failed to get tickets despite repeated attempts.
Railway authorities said that over a million people accessed their online server to purchase tickets, leaving many empty-handed.
Md Sazib Miah, a banker living in Mirpur, said that he had been trying to buy three tickets for Gaibandha since 8:00am but could not even log into the server.
Many others reported that they found all tickets were sold out within 40鈥�45 minutes.
Bus companies also started selling advance tickets both at counters and online.
While bus tickets were available on most routes, some passengers complained of overcharging.
This year, Eid-ul-Fitr, the largest religious festival for Muslims, is likely to be held on April 1.
Arifur Rahman, a private service holder, went to buy tickets at Gabtoli to go home in Rangpur during Eid holiday. He said he paid Tk 850 for a ticket which he usually bought for Tk 750.
Hanif Paribahan general manager Md Mosharraf Hossain claimed that they were charging fares as set by the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority.
鈥楾hroughout the year, we offer discounts to passengers,鈥� he said.
He added that tickets for all routes were still available, though passengers might not find their desired seats as most front-row seats were already sold out.
Bus ticket sellers said that demand for tickets to northern districts, including Rangpur, Dinajpur, and Gaibandha, remained high.
On Friday, bus companies sold tickets for journeys between March 25 and March 30. The demand for tickets for journeys on March 26 and 30 was comparatively lower, while the demand for March 27 tickets was the highest, said the staff of different bus companies.
The Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation, which will operate 775 buses under special services from Dhaka for Eid travellers, will begin selling advance tickets on March 20.
On Friday, Bangladesh Railway sold tickets for March 24.
Kamalapur railway station master Anower Hossain said that in the morning, tickets for the western region were sold, while selling of tickets for the eastern region started at 2:00pm.
The railway transitioned to fully online ticket sales in 2023 that they are continuing this year.
For Eid-ul-Fitr the railway will operate 10 special trains and add 44 additional coaches to regular services.
The schedule for selling advance train tickets for the rest of the days is: today (March 15) for travel on March 25, on March 16 for March 26, on March 17 for March 27, on March 18 for March 28, on March 19 for March 29, and on March 20 for March 30.
Tickets for March 31, April 1, and April 2 will be sold based on moon sighting.
Return tickets will also be sold in phases: on March 24 for travel on April 3, on March 25 for April 4, on March 26 for April 5, on March 27 for April 6, on March 28 for April 7, on March 29 for April 8, and on March 30 for April 9.
During Eid, 10 additional trains will operate on the Chattogram鈥揅handpur, Dhaka鈥揇ewanganj, Bhairab Bazar鈥揔ishoreganj, Mymensingh鈥揔ishoreganj and Joydevpur鈥揚arbatipur routes.
For non-air-conditioned compartments, 25 per cent standing tickets will be available at counters during Eid journeys.
A person can buy a maximum of four tickets by providing the national identity card or birth certificate numbers of all passengers.
No advance tickets will be refundable.
From March 27, the weekly off-day for all intercity trains will be cancelled until Eid-ul-Fitr.