Desperation grows
With Durga Puja and Eid-ul-Azha holidays knocking on the door, hundreds of Dhaka city dwellers are still in a desperate search for train, bus and launch tickets so as to make it in time to celebrate the festival with near and dear ones.
As in the past couple of days, many ticket-seekers yesterday thronged Kamalapur Railway Station, Sadarghat Launch Terminal and bus counters around the capital. Most returned empty handed as the operators claimed to have run out of tickets.
Private bus and launch operators mainly blame huge public demand against limited capacity for the crisis.
Holidaymakers gathered at Kamalapur early morning, some hard-core queue-sitters from even Sunday night. But tickets were available for only a few hours after sales started around 9:00am.
“I have come here at 6:00am. Nevertheless, I did not get tickets because many people were there before me,” said Mahbubul Haque who plans on going to Khulna.
Coming on a visit, Railways Minister Mazibul Hoque said around 270 new coaches will be brought to service within the next six months.
He admitted that the process to sell advance tickets was slightly slow because of technical complications and lack of skilled manpower. It will be resolved, he said, adding that all advance tickets will be sold online in the future.
Train tickets for October 1, 2, 3 and 4 were distributed on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and yesterday respectively. Today's tickets are for October 5. The four-day Durga Puja starts today while Eid-ul-Azah is scheduled to be celebrated on October 6.
Those opting to ride buses are now eyeing smaller companies as the well-known ones have exhausted their stocks.
“I could not get tickets in companies like Hanif, Sohag or Shyamoli. Now, I have brought tickets of Ekota Paribahan,” said Sarwar Titu, travelling to Bogra on October 3.
Shyamoli Paribahan Managing Director Romesh Chandra Ghosh said, “We have already sold out almost all the tickets for October 2-5. We reserved a few tickets for our friends or close persons for emergencies.”
On waterways, the sale period of advance cabin tickets is not announced. “Launch owners do not announce any date for starting the sale. Rather they booked cabin tickets for VIPs. That is why, we do not get cabin tickets,” said Razzak Ali while looking for a ticket to Barisal.
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