Eid vacationers throng station
Hundreds of Dhaka city residents thronged Kamalapur Railway Station yesterday to buy advance train tickets ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr, one of the biggest religious festivals of Muslims.
Some ticket seekers had stayed at the station overnight, while others went there after seheri to join the queue for a better chance at getting the train tickets.
Ticket booths opened at 9:00am. In the capital, the tickets are only sold at Kamalapur Railway Station. A person can buy a maximum of four tickets.
Visiting the railway station yesterday, The Daily Star found people waiting in a long queue for the tickets.
Tickets for leaving the capital on July 24 were sold yesterday. Tickets for July 25, 26, 27 and 28 will be sold from today till Thursday at railway stations across the country.
Still queuing for tickets at noon, many people were afraid that by the time they reached the booths the tickets would be sold out.
Many holiday makers yesterday left the station in a cheery mood after securing their tickets.
“I forgot all my sufferings as soon as I got the tickets,” said a happy Nova Ahmed, who secured tickets to go to Dinajpur.
Meanwhile, Government Railway Police (GRP) yesterday held three persons on suspicion that they were selling tickets on the black market.
“We know that they have committed similar crimes in the past, and that is why we have detained them,” said Abdul Mojid, officer-in-charge of Dhaka Railway Police Station.
Around 18,000 advance tickets of intercity trains from Dhaka will be sold daily, said officials.
Bangladesh Railway hopes to carry, on average, one lakh people daily from Dhaka to outer districts during the rush, they added.
BRTC
State-run Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) also started selling advance bus tickets yesterday.
However, visiting the Kamalapur Bus Station, The Daily Star found the bus counters relatively empty.
A total of 450 BRTC buses will ply between Dhaka and different districts daily from July 22. Besides, 50 additional buses will be on standby a day before Eid for emergencies, said officials.
CHITTAGONG
Meanwhile, sale of advance train tickets also began at Chittagong Railway Station, reports our Chittagong correspondent. The railway authorities yesterday sold 3,749 tickets for eight intercity trains of July 24, said Abul Kalam Azad, station manager of Chittagong Railway Station. The same number of tickets would be sold today for July 25, he added.
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