Railway announces Eid ticket sale dates
Bangladesh Railway will start sale of advance train tickets for Eid-ul-Azha from five different places in Dhaka from July 29, Railways Minister Nurul Islam announced yesterday.
The announcement came at a time when rail operation remains suspended in at least two routes due to flood. Although Bangladesh Railway (BR) authority hoped to restore operation in those routes before Eid, it will reduce the trains’ speed, resulting delays in schedule, officials said.
Fifty per cent of tickets will be sold online through the BR app, SMS and railway website, the minister told at a press conference at Rail Bhaban.
Advance tickets for intercity trains for traveling on August 7,8, 9, 10, and 11 would be sold on July 29, 30 and 31 and August 1 and 2 respectively, he said.
For the first time before last Eid-ul-Fitr, advance tickets were sold at different locations in the capital -- breaking the tradition of sales only at Kamalapur Railway Station -- to ease ticket-buying process and prevent excruciatingly long queues oh holidaymakers.
Tickets for intercity trains will be sold in rail stations at Kamalapur, Airport, Tejgaon, Banani and old Rail Bhaban in Fulbaria, the minister said, adding that BR will operate eight special trains from August 8 till July 19, carrying 3,000 passengers. No tickets of these special trains will be sold through the app.
When several reporters reminded that thousands of holidaymakers tried to buy train tickets online clogging up the servers prior to last Eid, Rail Secretary Mofazzal Hossain said CNS Limited -- that provides the online services -- claimed to have increased their capacity. During last Eid rush, they were able to receive 15,000 hits per minute, but now they claimed that they will be able to receive 1 lakh hits per minute, he said.
The minister said no one except for ministers, lawmakers, supreme court judges, secretaries and their families will be eligible for VIP tickets, adding that they will only be eligible for VIP tickets if they are traveling in person.
FLOOD DISRUPTS TRAIN OPERATIONS
BR Director General Md Shamsuddin said several sections in Lalmonirhat division were affected largely due to the ongoing flood, forcing them to change route of several trains.
In east zone of BR, around 25km track of Melandah-Dewanganj route was affected, he said, adding that Dohazari section was also affected. The DG hoped that they would be able to restore all routes before Eid. However, as per rules, they have brought down speed of trains to 20km per hour from 60, meaning trains in those routes will take more time.
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