Battle for tickets

Sagar Biswas :
Battle for advance tickets of train, bus and launch becomes tough ahead of Eid-ul Azha and the long queues at the counters are getting longer as tickets vanish within hours of opening the counters everyday.
The advance train tickets for homebound Eid passengers, which were put on sale on the fourth day [Monday], evaporated in a few hours of opening the windows at Kamlapur Railway Station.
The scenario was almost same at other stations, including Cantonment and Joydevpur. The people waiting at Kamlapur became frustrated hearing of the news of ticket shortage and started shouting in despair as several of them were in the long queues since the previous night.
This year, the pressure on railways is apparently high, as people have been preferring train journey because of poor condition of the highways to different destinations. And so, the battle for train tickets was really tough.
Several ticket seekers said the advance tickets for all regular train routes, including Dhaka-Chittgong and Dhaka-Sylhet, just bubbled up within two hours of opening the counters.
Railway officials said the passengers could buy advance tickets 10 days before the date of journey. Of the total advance tickets, 25 per cent are sold through mobile phone operators, five per cent sold by railway staff and five per cent are kept reserve for VIPs while the rest 65 per cent are sold from the station counters.
Admitting the sufferings of people, Railways Minister Mujibul Huq said on Monday that the number of seats was quite limited against the actual demand of travelers, which has caused hassle.
 “We are selling 2.5 lakh tickets everyday to meet the demands of the Durga Puja and Eid-ul-Azha passengers who are heading towards their home,” the minister said at Kamalapur railway station in the city.
He said: “The railways are selling 2.5 lakh tickets everyday. However, there is still some lacking because of our limited resources. However our motive is to provide full service using the existence resources.”
The minister hoped that the situation would be normal soon when large number of passengers would get tickets. “Under the supervision of senior officials, there will be enough advance tickets at railway stations in Dhaka and Chittagong,” he said.
Railway authorities earlier on Friday morning [September 26] started selling advance train tickets. But, all the initiatives appeared insufficient when the majority of the ticket seekers failed to obtain their tickets even on the fourth day.
“The tickets are running out quickly because of buyers rush. The authorities are monitoring the ticket selling and law enforcers are keeping watch on the situation,” Kamalapur Station Manager Md Khairul Bashir, said.
On the other hand, most of the private bus services operating on routes to the country’s southern, south-western and northern districts from Dhaka have reportedly sold out their advance tickets although homebound people are thronging bus terminals at Gabtoli, Shyamoli, Kalyanpur, Sayadabad and Mohakhali in the city every day.
Taking the advantage of the situation, the advance tickets of luxury buses are allegedly sold at double rate. Several ticket seekers also complained that bus tickets are being sold at higher prices in presence of the members of law enforcement agencies.
 “We have taken measures so that the bus owners cannot charge extra fares and create artificial ticket crisis. We are also going to deploy mobile teams very soon which would work together with the law-enforcers to check the irregularities”, Bangladesh Road Transport Authority [BRTA] Chairman Md. Nazrul Islam yesterday said.
Meanwhile, the tickets for launch cabins are allegedly supplied secretly to make extra bucks.
“I went to different launch counters to book two cabins. I was told first that there was no ticket. But some employees later demanded extra money for booking the cabins,” Samad Ali who intends to go to his village home in Borguna during the Eid said.
According to officials, some 400 launches leave Sadarghat every day with a capacity of carrying around 1.20 lakh people and during the Eid, the launches carry more than double.