Railway passengers delighted with hassle-free ticketing, security at station
Passengers at Kamalapur Railway station expressed their satisfaction as they were able to secure advance and return train tickets from the comfort of their homes this Eid.
The online ticket booking process and checking at the station not only reduces suffering but also effectively puts an end to ticket black marketing, they said.
Bangladesh Railway has successfully sold 100% of train tickets to passengers through an online platform ahead of Eid-ul-Azha.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
A similar initiative was taken during Eid-ul-Fitr a few months back which managed to significantly reduce hassle for Eid travellers.
However, the joys of Eid travels have been slightly dampened by excessive passenger pressure at Kamalapur Railway station and delays in train departures.
Tightened security at station
By taking some effective measures including strengthening security at the stations, the railway authorities were able to stop people from entering the station without tickets. It made the journey a bit smoother for regular passengers, especially for women.
Kamalapur Station Manager Masud Sarwar told TBS, "Our aim is to make sure passengers can have a safe and comfortable Eid journey. So, we are not allowing anyone in the station without a ticket. Like the previous Eid, no ticketless passenger can get on the train this time, which creates a chaotic and crowded situation."
Praising the railway's initiative, a Chattogram-bound passenger Natasha Chowdhury said, "We become a bit irritated to see ticket checking at the entrance, but after entering the station we realised its effectiveness."
Although there is a big rush at the station, all passengers have tickets and seats, which creates a sense of safety, Natasha added.
Goodbye, long queues of ticket seekers
For a large number of people residing in Dhaka, the railway serves as a major mode of transportation during festivals.
In previous years, Commuters were forced to endure long hours, even whole nights, of waiting in queues at railway stations to secure tickets in advance.
However, this year, passengers could dodge the agonising wait as the entire ticketing process was smoothly conducted online.
Anyone who has online excess and has a National Identity (NID) Card was able to buy tickets.
Expressing contentment over the ticket management, the Secretary of the Railway Ministry Md Humayun Kabir said, "The passengers were able to purchase their tickets with ease as we implemented a 100% online ticketing system for the second consecutive Eid. Not a single complaint of inconvenience was reported and we have successfully put an end to black marketing of tickets."
He further highlighted that there were no server-related issues during the booking of advance and return tickets this year.
Jubaer Hossain Pavel, the vice president of Shohoz Limited, the ticket management company for Bangladesh Railway, explained that passengers greatly benefited from the seamless log-in and ticketing process due to this well-planned approach to selling advance tickets.
Implementing state-of-the-art technologies and adding over 1500 powerful servers to their system, Shohoz served a herculean task managing more than 35 million hits per hour during the advance ticket sale period, he added.
The sale of advance tickets for Eid ul Azha took place from June 14 to 18, with return tickets made available between June 22 and 26.
