Advance train tickets sold out as many return empty handed for 2nd day
Train tickets for 28 April have been sold out in a short time on the second day of selling advance train tickets at Kamalapur Railway Station.
Ticket-seekers claimed that no more than 50 people received the golden prize among thousands waiting in a long que at the Dhaka station.
"I was waiting in the queue for hours since last night. But now the authorities claim that all the tickets have been sold out," said Ahmed Sofa on Sunday morning.
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He also alleged that the concerned authorities are indulging in corruption - effectively insinuating that the authorities are stocking train tickets to sell them in the black market.
Ahmed was 70th in his queue for advanced tickets, with hundreds more behind him who had also come at the station hours earlier. But all the tickets were sold out before his turn could come.
The same pattern was observed on Saturday as thousands of people failed to come by the means of a train journey out of Dhaka after all the tickets allotted for the day were sold out in an unbelievably quick interval.
The hassle increased further in the morning due to a server error in shohoz.com, the country's largest online ticket seller, owing to massive traffic.
A similar situation was observed at Airport, Banani and Tejgaon railway stations and Fulbaria — where advance tickets were sold.
Demand for train tickets has surged in recent years as most home-goers try to avoid travel by road due to traffic jams and high fares.
"You have to face traffic jams while travelling by bus. It wastes your time and causes sufferings for children. But train travel does not have these issues. All the sufferings are in buying tickets," said Ratan, who tried to get a train ticket on Saturday.
Apart from regular intercity trains, western and Khulna-bound special train tickets are being sold at Kamalapur Railway Station, Chattogram and Noakhali special tickets being sold at Dhaka Airport Station, Mymensingh and Jamalpur and Dewanganj tickets at Tejgaon Station, Mohonganj special tickets at Dhaka Cantonment, Sylhet and Kishoreganj tickets at Fulbaria Station.
