Several bus operators have started selling advance tickets for the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr holidays.
On Friday, tickets for trips between 26 Apr and 1 May went on sale at different counters in the Gabtoli Bus Terminal and surrounding areas in Dhaka.
However, the bus counters drew sparse crowds on the opening day of sales, reports bdnews24.com.
“Bus operators have made preparations for the sale of advance tickets for trips between Apr 26 and May 1. Tickets for various northern and southern routes will be sold as long as seats are available,” said Ramesh Chandra Ghosh, chairman of the Bangladesh Bus-Truck Owners' Association.
“Tickets are now available but different bus operators will sell them at different times. Many of them will begin selling advance tickets from tomorrow or the day after tomorrow,” said Faruk Talukder Sohel, owner of Shohag Paribahan.
“We have started selling our tickets for different routes and will continue to do so as long as seats are available.”
The ticket counters in Dhaka are usually overburdened before Eid, but this year the scene is different. The queues in front of several counters in the capital’s Shyamoli, Kalyanpur and Gabtoli were relatively thin.
Ruhul Amin is planning to return home to Dinajpur for the Eid holidays. He learnt about the ticket sale from an acquaintance who works at a bus counter. "I came to buy tickets from the Hanif Paribahan counter in the morning. It was almost empty at the time. I bought three tickets for Dinajpur at reasonable prices."
Mosharraf Hossain, general manager of Hanif Paribahan, believes the slow start to the sale is down to the 'length' of the Eid holiday. “The Eid holiday is quite lengthy this year. That’s why travellers are not in a hurry [to buy tickets]."
However, advance tickets are yet to go on sale at Mohakhali Bus Terminal, according to Inter-District Bus Owners' Association President Abul Kalam.
“Tickets will be available at different counters of the Mohakhali Bus Terminal after the start of the Eid holidays as a few long-distance buses will depart from there. But short-distance tickets are not sold in advance.”
Eid-ul-Fitr is expected to fall on May 2, but the date is subject to the sighting of the moon.
The sale of advance train tickets will begin on Apr 23.