Mad rush to Kamalapur as advance train ticket sales begin
On Friday, some 4.5 lakh people battled online for 13,000 tickets
Thousands of people rushed to Kamalapur Railway Station in the capital on Friday as the Bangladesh Railway started selling advance tickets for the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha holidays.
Starting Thursday night, the lines at the ticket counters grew longer by the hour on Friday morning, with newcomers who were unable to buy tickets online despite several attempts, joining.
As soon as the authorities started issuing tickets at 8am sharp on Friday, the entire station was noisy, abuzz with quarrelsome and anxious customers. Some were shouting for discipline, while others fell ill in the hot and humid weather.
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"I came here early last night, and I am still behind many," Rafiqul Islam told The Business Standard (TBS) on Friday morning. "I am not sure when I will get a ticket," added Rafiqul who plans to travel to Nilphamari on 5 July with his family.
"I tried to buy the ticket online to avoid the long in-person lines. However, I failed, as the server slowed down just as advance ticket sales began," said Tasmima Rahman, adding there was also indiscipline at the station.
"I was the 11th customer in line when I got here last night, but I notice I am now 44th," Mili Biswas told TBS a few minutes before the start of ticket issuing.
The tension of uncertainty in availing a ticket showed on the faces of most people in line on Friday, while those who actually got their tickets were overjoyed having overcome a tough challenge. Standing in line, many people were also trying to get tickets online on their smartphones.
Contacted, Kamalapur Railway Station Manager, Mohammad Masud Sarwar, told The Business Standard, about 4.5 lakh people entered the server to buy tickets in the morning, while the authorities were only supposed to issue some 13,000 tickets.
"So, it is very natural that most will not get online tickets," he said, adding that the authorities had nothing to do as the number of tickets was limited.
Masud Sarwar feared the situation might get worse in the coming days.
The six railway stations in Dhaka and one in Gazipur sold tickets in advance for 5 July on Friday, and are scheduled to sell 6 July tickets on Saturday, 7 July tickets on Sunday, 8 July tickets on Monday and 9 July tickets on Tuesday, according to the railway ministry.
On an eight-hour shift – from 8am to 4pm – all the stations will sell 13,700 tickets in total every day, half of them being advance tickets. The remaining half are supposed to be sold online. Photocopies of national identity cards or birth registration are being checked in issuing tickets to prevent irregularities.
Six pairs of special trains will operate this Eid, according to the ministry.
North-bound intercity train tickets are to be sold from Dhaka's Kamalapur Station, Rajshahi and Khulna-bound train tickets from the Kamalapur Suburban Platform, Chittagong and Noakhali-bound from Dhaka Airport Station, while Mymensingh, Jamalpur and Dewanganj train tickets are being sold at Tejgaon Railway Station.
Mohanganj-bound and Haor Express train tickets are available at the Dhaka Cantonment Railway Station, Sylhet and Kishoreganj tickets at Fulbaria Railway Station, and Panchagarh tickets at Gazipur's Joydebpur station.
