The Kamalapur Railway Station (KRS) in the capital witnessed a huge crowd on Sunday to avail advance train tickets for the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha.
During a visit at the railway station on the day, the FE correspondent found a large number of ticket-seekers waiting for long hours to purchase advance tickets for journey to their respective destinations.
Many of them expressed dismay, as many of them were waiting for 20-22 hours by spending overnight for managing tickets to ensure safe Eid journey to their respective village homes.
"I came to the station on Saturday night, and after waiting for long hours I could purchase tickets," said Md Shakil Ahmed, a private university student, after getting tickets for journey to Lalmonirhat during Eid.
On the other hand, Md Ariful Islam, another ticket-seeker, said at around 2:00 pm on the day, "I am exhausted, as I have been waiting for six hours, but not certain whether I could get tickets or not."
The ticket-seekers called upon the Bangladesh Railway (BR) authority to speed up the process of selling tickets to lessen their sufferings.
A high official of BR at KRS said following directives of the railways minister they had taken measures to check sale of train tickets in black market.
He said Bangladesh Police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and Railway Police personnel were deployed at the station to ensure discipline and prevent sale of tickets in black market.
Earlier, the BR authority started selling advance tickets on Friday on the occasion of the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha.
BR sources said advance tickets for the Eid-ul-Azha are now being sold from six stations in Dhaka and Joydebpur railway junction in Gazipur.
Tickets of the intercity trains for northern districts (Dinajpur, Rangpur and others) as well as for Rajshahi and Khulna can be bought from KRS.
On the other hand, tickets of the Chattogram and Noakhali-bound intercity trains are being sold at Dhaka Airport Railway Station.
Tickets of the Mymensingh, Jamalpur and Dewanganj-bound intercity trains can be managed from Tejgaon Railway Station.
Tickets for Mohonganj and Haor Express are being sold at Dhaka Cantonment Railway Station.
Tickets of the Sylhet and Kishoreganj-bound intercity trains are being sold at Fulbaria old railway station.
Ticket sale at the railway stations begins at 8:00 am and continues until 4:00 pm. Each passenger can buy maximum four tickets.
Tickets for journey on July 8 will be available on July 4 and tickets for journey on July 9 will be possible to get on July 5. Advance tickets for journey on July 5, 6 and 7 were sold on Friday, Saturday and Sunday respectively.
The sale of return tickets will continue from July 7 to July 11.
talhabinhabib@yahoo.com