The ticket heat is on

Around midnight. People began gathering in front of closed ticket counters in the capital's bus terminals and railway stations so that they could grab advance tickets for their Eid travel before all seats were sold out.

They had their sehri there, and as the counters opened yesterday morning, they all lined up to buy tickets of the day they wish to travel to their village homes ahead of the festival.

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

Most of them seemed to have shrugged off the fatigue from their overnight wait as they got the tickets. Some people arrived at the terminals and Kamalapur station in the morning braving the incessant rain and saw, to their surprise, that the lines had already become too long to take several curls before the counters.

According to an earlier announcement, the authorities started selling advance tickets yesterday morning.  

Every year, tens of thousands of people leave the capital to celebrate Eid with near and dear ones living in their village homes. But their journey often turns into a bitter experience, largely due to traffic jam, overpricing of tickets and delays in bus and train schedules.

Bangladesh Railway yesterday sold advance tickets for June 21 while bus tickets for June 22, 23 and 24 were available.

BUS TICKETS FOR JUNE 22, 23 DEARER

Many complained of overpricing of tickets. People, who wished to travel by bus on June 22, said tickets for the day when the Eid rush was expected to begin were dearer.

Most of the leading bus companies, including Hanif Paribahan, Shyamoli Paribahan, SR Paribahan and Sohag Paribahan, started selling advance tickets for Eid holidaymakers.

This year Eid-ul-Fitr may be celebrated on June 26 or 27, a day or two after the weekends would end, and so the demand for tickets for June 22, 23 and 24 was high since many wished to have an extended holiday.  

Md Hakim, who went to Balurmath of Gabtoli to buy tickets from Hanif Paribahan around 7:15am, said he had expected fewer people at the counter than what it was. 

“It took me about four and a half hours to get to the counter,” said Hakim, who was happy finally with four tickets to Dinajpur for June 22. He paid Tk 650 for each ticket.

Kaisar Hossain, who also bought tickets to the same destination, said the usual fair was Tk 550, but the bus operator was charging Eid travellers more.

According to Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, the fare for the Dhaka to Dinajpur route is Tk 565.

Reshma Begum, an employee of a private company, went all the way from Bakshibazar to Gabtali to buy tickets to Rajshahi for June 23.

“When I got to the beginning of the line, people at the counter told me tickets were already sold out.” She then bought tickets for June 21.

As the demand for tickets for June 22 and 23 was high, many people had to change their travel schedules for not getting tickets, transport operators said.

However, many passengers alleged that the bus operators reserved tickets for VIPs and influential people and that was why they were saying tickets had been sold out.

Mosharaf Hossain, manager of Hanif Paribahan, refuted the allegation of overcharging Eid travellers.

He said all tickets to northern districts for June 22, 23 and 24 had been sold out.

GM Shaheed, vice-chairman of Bangladesh Bus-Truck Owners' Association, said they also saw a huge demand for tickets for June 22 and 23.

“Throughout the year, we charge passengers less than the rates set by the BRTA as we earn from up and down trips. But, during the Eid season, we sell tickets at the fixed fare since there is only one-way trip.”

DEMAND FOR TRAIN TICKETS

Advance train tickets for June 22, 23, 24, and 25 would be sold today, tomorrow, on June 15 and 16 respectively.

Md Yasin, who works at a private firm, went to the station around 6:00am yesterday to buy a ticket to Dinajpur. He was five men behind the counter around 10:40am.

“The demand for tickets is not so high today....I think the computer system is working slowly,” he said.

As many as 22,122 advance tickets of 31 trains from Kamalapur Railway Station were available yesterday, said station manager Sitangshu Chakraborty.

Sixty-five percent of the tickets were sold at Kamalapur and 25 percent online. Five percent were reserved for VIPs and another five percent for railway employees, he added.

Besides, 25,000 tickets of mail, express and local trains are being sold on daily basis, Sitangshu said. “There was crowd in the morning. However, everybody got tickets.”

The rail authority was expecting higher demand for tickets for June 22, 23, 24.

Some 70,000 to 80,000 passengers leave Dhaka through Kamalapur Railway Station during Eid vacation.

Talking to The Daily Star, several passengers demanded that the authorities increase the sale of online tickets to reduce people's suffering.

Asked about the matter, the station manager said many people were yet to be tech savvy. “They still believe ticket counter is the place to buy tickets.”