Metro Rail: Huge crowd for weekend ride
Mohammad Sohel, an employee at a firm, did not get metro tickets after waiting in a long queue for around three hours at Agargaon Station yesterday.
He could not fulfil his desire to travel in the country's first metro rail service as the demand for tickets was higher than the capacity at which the trains were running.
"I came here at 9:00am and could not enter the station until noon. When I returned, around 500 more people were in front of me for tickets."
Tickets are available from 8:00am to noon.
Sayma Khatun said she waited for around two hours to buy a ticket, but could not get one.
Like Sohel and Sayma, a large number of people failed to get tickets at Agargaon and Uttara North stations on the second day of the opening of the metro rail service.
Yesterday was the weekend. Most people went there to have the trip for pleasure rather than commute.
Kamruzzaman, who could get tickets to Agargaon from Diabari, said he was very happy as he could ride on the metro along with his family members. "All of my family members enjoyed the journey."
Rayhan Chowdhury, a resident of Mirpur, said he got tickets after some hurdles. But then he was thinking about how he would return as it was not possible for him to buy a return ticket.
Sharmin Aktar had to wait 30 minutes at a ticket vending machine of Uttara North Station as it was not functioning. "It is really painful when you have to start from the beginning after standing in line for so long."
Long queue for MRT pass
While people have to spend several hours to get tickets at stations, those who have MRT passes can easily enter the station and board train. For this, the demand for MRT passes has increased.
The authorities are issuing MRT passes from 3:00pm to 9:00pm and there was a long queue for that at the Agargaon Station before 3:00pm yesterday.
"I had to stand in a line for two and a half hours to get a ticket on the first day of the service. So, I came here to manage an MRT pass," said Shamim Ahsan.
He said it earlier took him around two and a half hours to reach his Gazipur office from Shewrapara. Now he can reach Diabari within 13 minutes and then its just an hour's ride to work.
"It will be very easy for me if the government arranges bus service from Diabari to Gazipur. We will get full benefit of the service," said Shamim.
Meanwhile, a video clip went viral on social media yesterday that showed some people entering the Uttara North Station to get an MRT pass (Tk 500) scaling the locked collapsible gate of the station.
Contacted, Moudud Hawlader, officer-in-charge of Turag Police Station, said they know about the incident.
Comments