Online train tickets for Eid-ul-Azha sold out in 5 minutes
The Bangladesh Railway started selling advance train tickets for Eid-ul Azha on Friday (1 July) – 50% of the tickets have been made available online and the remaining at the counters.
Tickets for 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 July travels are being sold on 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 July respectively.
However, all online tickets for 6 July were sold out within the first five minutes on Saturday.
Many passengers claimed that they were forced to wait in long queues at the capital's Kamalapur Railway Station after failing to enter the railway's online ticket platform despite repeated attempts.
"I have been trying to book a ticket online since 8am today (2 July). But all the tickets were sold out within five minutes," Md Roni, a businessman, told The Business Standard while standing at the back of a long line in front of a ticket counter with at least hundreds if not thousands before him.
Echoing the same, Ruhul Amin, another passenger, said, "I have been trying to book tickets online since yesterday.
"After failing to do so I came to the station but the queues are very long. I don't know for how long I can wait here."
"To make matters worse, ticket selling has been very slow, which has killed our time," he added.
Authorities and law enforcers are finding it difficult to keep the situation under control due to the large crowd at the station.
Gias Ahmed, who arrived at the railway station on Saturday midnight, is yet to get tickets for his desired destination to celebrate Eid with his friends and family.
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He said," I am waiting in line since last night but it hasn't moved forward a bit. I don't know what to do now."
