Huge crowd as sale of advance train ticket for Eid begins

Defying health guidelines amid a surge of coronavirus, hundreds of people thronged Kamalapur Railway Station in the capital early on Friday to purchase train tickets in advance for travelling during the Eid-ul-Azha to be celebrated on July 10.

According to the decision, the train tickets for July 5 are being sold today while the tickets of following days will be sold five days prior to the Eid.

Besides, the advance ticket sale on the app and website begins from 8:00am and it will continue till 4:00pm.

Visiting the spot, it was found that many people from different parts of the capital Dhaka started gathering at the railway station from the early hours on Friday and many of them stood in the queue after Fajr prayer.

But most of the ticket seekers were seen unmasked and reluctant in maintaining the health guidelines amid the surge of coronavirus.

As Bangladesh has been experiencing a sharp spike in the infection rate of coronavirus for the last few weeks, the cabinet division on June 28 issued a notification making wearing masks mandatory for the citizens.

The train tickets for Eid are being sold at six stations in Dhaka and Joydevpur Railway Station in Gazipur.

Tickets for the northern intercity train are being sold at Kamalapur Railway Station, the central railway station in Dhaka. Train tickets for Rajshahi and Khulna have been made available at Kamalapur Shohortoli Platform.

All intercity train tickets to Chattogram and Noakhali are being sold at Dhaka Airport Railway Station.

Besides, people can buy tickets for Mymensingh, Jamalpur and Dewanganj trains from Tejgaon Railway Station.

The train tickets for Mohanganj-bound Mohanganj and Haor Express trains are available at Dhaka Cantonment Railway Station while people can purchase tickets for Sylhet and Kishoreganj trains from Fulbaria Railway Station.

Each passenger will be able to purchase a ticket with NID or birth certificate copy at the counter and a passenger can buy a maximum of 4 tickets.

A total of 26,713 tickets will be sold daily from Dhaka and half of it will be sold online. The authorities have added a total 67 extra train-bogies to meet the rush of passengers.

At the same time, a total of 213 trains will be run on the occasion of the holy Eid to ensure smooth journey of the holidaymakers.