The city dwellers started on Friday leaving the capital to celebrate the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha with their near and dear ones.
Thousands of people thronged the railway stations, bus and launch terminals amid difficulties in getting transports.
The rush has led to traffic jams at some key points of the city.
The Eid holidays starts from Tuesday to Thursday.
Many service holders have taken two days of advanced leave (Sunday and Monday next) and left the capital with their family members to their respective village homes to avoid the last moment hassle.
Visiting Kamalapur and airport railway stations, this correspondent found home-bound passengers were waiting patiently for the trains of their respective routes.
"We arrived the station a couple of hours before the scheduled departure fearing traffic jams while getting seats on the train," Ahmed Khan, a resident of Mirpur section one told the FE at the Kamalapur railway station.
A total of 30 trains left the Kamalapur railway station until evening.
Of these, three trains Teesta, Nilsagar and Sundarban left the station one hour late than their respective scheduled departure times.
However, despite all the problems, the passengers were seen happy as they could manage tickets and leave the capital.
Railway minister Mojibul Hoque told reporters that they were working to maintain the train schedule.
The Bangladesh Railway (BR) authority is considering adding some more Eid special trains if needed.
Most of the buses at Mohakhali, Syedabad and Mohakhali bust terminals could not leave the capital on time due to long tailback on different highways of the country.
Long tailbacks were reported at Paturia- Dauladia and Shimulia and Kathalia ferry routes points.
Besides, traffic gridlock (20 kms to 30 kms) was also reported at Dhaka-Mymensingh, Dhaka-Tangail, Dhaka-Sylhet and Dhaka-Chattogram highways.
Road Transport minister Obaidul Quader told reporters that the ongoing operation against unfit vehicles will continue.
He expressed the hope that home-bound passengers would reach their village homes without trouble if there was no rain during the religious festival.
Dhaka river port terminal at Sadarghat saw a significant number of passengers who were leaving the capital for their homes.
"I faced difficulties in reaching the Sadarghat launch terminal from Uttara owing to the lack of transports and traffic jams," Mohibur, a small trader, told the FE at Sadarghat on the day.
A significant number of launches left the terminal on the day.
All cabin tickets of launches were sold out much earlier.
But the ordinary passengers could travel on the launch deck since there is no provision for booking advanced tickets for the deck.
talhabinhabib@yahoo.com