Railway starts selling advance tickets

The Bangladesh Railway (BR) has started selling advance tickets for homebound passengers on the occasion of the holy Eid-ul-Adha.

"All advance train tickets are being sold online. However, unsold tickets will be available at the counter during the final period," Director General of BR Md Afzal Hossain told BSS today (22 May).

Hossain said the government will arrange five additional pairs of special trains to ensure a smooth and hassle-free Eid journey.

He also said return train tickets will be available from 30 May.

According to BR sources, the sale of advance tickets for all intercity trains in the western zone began at 8 am on Wednesday, while tickets for eastern zone trains were available from 2 pm.

A total of 33,315 seats will be available in 43 intercity trains from Dhaka to various parts of the country, the sources added.

Advance tickets are being sold as follows: for journeys on May 31, tickets were available on May 21; for June 1, on May 22; for June 2, on May 23; for June 3, on May 24; for June 4, on May 25; for June 5, on May 26; and for June 6, on May 27.

The Director General said each passenger may purchase a maximum of four tickets with one user ID. He added that, upon passengers' request, BR has decided to sell 25 percent standing tickets against the total number of seats from station counters.

The BR sources said the weekly holidays of all intercity trains will remain suspended from June 3 until the day before Eid. After Eid-ul-Adha, the intercity train services will return to their regular schedule. However, no intercity train services will be available on Eid day.

Depending on the sighting of the moon, Eid-ul-Adha is expected to be celebrated on June 7 or 8.