As the pandemic-induced travel restrictions came off after two years, scores of people are streaming out of Dhaka ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr to spend the holidays with their loved ones back in towns and villages across Bangladesh.
Thursday was the last working day before the Eid holidays and many Dhaka residents are planning to leave for their village homes in the evening.
The Kamalapur Railway Station saw a much bigger crowd of Eid holidaymakers on Friday than the previous two days, reports bdnews24.com.
However, much like the last two days, the railway authorities were unable to maintain the departure schedule for a few trains. At least three intercity trains departed the platform later than their scheduled time as of 10 am.
Bangladesh Railway began selling advance tickets for Eid travels on Apr 23. The sale started with tickets for the journeys on Apr 27. The railway has been operating trains for Eid holidaymakers since Wednesday.
Among the trains that ran late, the Neelsagar Express, which operates on the Chalihati route, left the station at 7:50 am, over an hour behind schedule. Passengers of the Rangpur Express faced a 15-minute delay while the Sundarban Express was the third train that failed to depart on time.
The morning trains were crammed with passengers, some of whom stood in whatever free space they found inside the coaches. The passengers, however, suffered in the scorching heat during Ramadan.
“Just see how they’re standing next to us while we’re seated. We’re suffering as much as they are. All of this happened because the authorities allowed passengers to travel while standing,” said Nabila Haque, a Rangpur Express passenger.
Sakhawat Hossain was travelling to Kushtia on the Sundarban Express. Every year, he has to face a myriad of hardships to travel home during the Eid holidays and this year has been no exception, according to him. That is why he had sent his family home early and travelled alone after his office closed for the Eid holidays.
“I wanted to travel on Apr 28 but didn’t get any ticket. Later, I found a ticket in a Facebook group but it cost Tk 1,000. So I didn’t buy it. Luckily, I got a ticket to travel today. It’s very hard to get hold of a train ticket while travelling by bus comes with the hassle of traffic jams.”
Shamim Hasan, also a passenger of the Sundarban Express, said he had arrived an hour before departure time only to find the train would be running late.
“It happens every time during the Eid holidays. It’s very troublesome to sit for this long in the sweltering heat.”
At least 17 trains, including 10 inter-district trains, departed the station as of 10 am on Friday, said Railway Assistant Transport Officer Aminul Haque. “The trains that came late departed late,” he said.
“It takes at least 30 minutes to send a train out after it arrives. That’s why those three trains were late. Other trains departed on time,” he explained.
