Eid Exodus Escalates: Railway Ticket Rush Hits Record High
Bangladesh Railway has begun advance ticket sales for Eid-ul-Adha, assuming June 7 as the day of the festival. In an unprecedented rush, the railway’s online ticketing platform received over 11.4 million hits within the first 30 minutes of sales for June 3 westbound train tickets. All tickets for the western zone were sold out by 9:00 am on Saturday.
According to sources at Bangladesh Railway, ticket sales for western zone trains began at 8:00 am on Saturday, May 24. The overwhelming online response caused the system to register record-breaking web traffic.
Speaking to the media, Kamalapur Railway Station Manager Md. Shahadat Hossain said, “Today saw the highest number of hits online since advance ticket sales began. We anticipate even greater demand over the next two days.”
Ticket sales for eastbound trains are scheduled to begin at 2:00 pm. Bangladesh Railway introduced the timing variation to ease the ticket-buying process for passengers.
This year, a total of 33,315 seats are available on intercity trains departing from Dhaka to various destinations across the country for Eid travel. This information was disclosed in the railway’s Eid operational plan.
According to the plan, tickets for May 31 were sold on May 21, for June 1 on May 22, for June 2 on May 23, for June 4 on May 25, for June 5 on May 26, and for June 6 on May 27.
Under this special arrangement, Bangladesh Railway will sell advance tickets for seven days prior to Eid. These tickets are non-refundable. Each passenger may purchase up to four tickets in a single transaction.
