Rush expected today

Tanjil Ahmed looked fatigued.

Standing for five hours since 4:30am in a long queue before a ticket counter at Kamalapur Railway Station in the capital yesterday, he was struggling to ward off the overwhelming urge to fall asleep.

As the queue inched forward, he appeared to become tense, uncertain whether stocks would last before his turn came to make all the trouble he had gone through worthwhile. He finally gave an ecstatic jump around 10:00am, clasping in his hands September 7 travel passes to Rajshahi.

“All my sufferings are now gone thinking of the nice moments I will celebrate during my Eid holidays with my dear ones at my village home,” the university student told The Daily Star.

There were hundreds of others like him thronging the station to purchase advance tickets, made available from yesterday to ensure hassle free journeys for holidaymakers ahead of Eid-ul-Azha, expected to be celebrated on September 12.

Despite the long wait, almost everyone got tickets and the queues dissipated by around 12:30pm. During a visit around 1:00pm, this correspondent found tickets available for nearly all destinations in offer including Rajshahi, Jamalpur, Sylhet, Chittagong, Dinajpur and Rangpur.

However, railway officials expect the rush to intensify from today for high demands. Tickets for September 8, 9, 10 and 11 will be sold today, August 31 and September 1 and 2 correspondingly.

With some 44,000 local, mail and intercity train tickets being sold daily, the station sees the departure of around 65,000 to 70,000 people every day during the Eid rush, said officials. “Standing tickets”, for those willing to journey in the manner the name implies, are also made available during this period, they added. Several railway officials claimed that Bangladesh Railway's capacity has been increased in the last couple of years.

“In the last six months, we bought 150 more coaches. These new coaches can carry around 9,000 more passengers,” said Divisional Transport Officer Mahbubur Rahman.

Ten special trains will run from September 9 to cope with the excessive rush, along with the 378 operating daily.

“Solakia Special” trains will also operate on the Bhairab-Kishoreganj-Bhairab and Mymensingh-Kishoreganj-Mymensingh routes on Eid day marking the country's largest congregation.

Moreover, 140 coaches and 18 locomotives will be included to the existing 1,006 and 202 ones respectively. Bangladesh Railways Director General Amzad Hossain said adequate security measures would be taken to deter black marketing of tickets and subversive activities.

Every year, around 60 to 70 lakh people leave the capital to celebrate Eid with their near and dear ones at their village homes. The majority of them travel on roads and railways, as per travel operators.