Razin Ahmed, a university student, came to the capital's Kamalapur Railway Station around 2:00am yesterday hoping to get a place in front of the queue. But after arriving at the terminal, he found out there were people already waiting patiently.

So, he stood in line as well.

Razin was waiting in a queue for advance train tickets. The ticket sale started at 8:00am.

“As I'm fasting daily, I was so tired and drowsy. I took my Seheri here. After waiting for around seven hours, I finally got my tickets,” said Razin, who bought a ticket for Rajshahi.

Like him, many thronged Kamalapur since early yesterday and waited for several hours to get advance train tickets for celebrating Eid with their families.

As the day grew, the queue got longer. Many succeeded, while many failed as tickets were exhausted.

Railway authorities sell around 19,000 advance tickets of different intercity trains. Of them, 65 percent are sold at Kamalapur, 25 percent online, 5 percent are reserved for VIPs and 5 percent for railway employees.

Talking to The Daily Star, many passengers demanded that the authorities should increase the number online ticket sale.

“Then, we don't have to wait in line. It will reduce our sufferings,” said Mahmudul Kabir, a businessman.

Railway authorities said there may be a chance of selling tickets on black market, if more are sold online.

“One might buy around 50 tickets through online and sell those at higher prices. But a person in queue can buy a maximum of four tickets,” said Kamal Krishna Bhattacharyya, additional secretary of the railways ministry.

Besides, many passengers do not have access to internet, he said.

Meanwhile, many passengers at Kamalapur alleged that ticket delivering process was slow.

A railway staff, who was selling tickets, seeking anonymity, said, “Due to huge pressure, at times, our server slowed down.”

Railways authorities yesterday sold tickets of July 1. Train tickets of July 2, 3, 4 and 5 will be distributed today, 24, 25 and 26 respectively at Kamalapur and Chittagong railway stations.

CHITTAGONG

A small crowd of ticket seekers were seen at Chittagong Railway Station compared to previous years, reports our correspondent.

Visiting the terminal around 9:30am, the station counters were seen almost empty and a handful of people were buying tickets with ease.

Since it was the first day, there were fewer crowds, said Chittagong Railway Station Manager Md Abul Kalam Azad. 

Md Abdul Hai, general manger of Bangladesh Railways (East Zone), while visiting the station yesterday, told the reporters that a new intercity train Sonar Bangla will start operating from Sunday.

LAUNCH TICKET

Advance cabin tickets of private launches of Dhaka-Barisal routes have been exhausted. Of the tickets, around 80 percent are already sold out, while the rest are reserved for VIPs, according to launch booking office sources. 

Passengers, who will travel on launch deck, will have to buy tickets before boarding, reports our correspondent in Barisal.