Advance sale of train tickets for the upcoming Eid-ul-Adha saw massive demand on Wednesday, with all seats in the Western Zone selling out within an hour of going live at 8am.
Bangladesh Railway reported that an average of 393 passengers competed for each ticket online.
A total of 15,000 tickets were snapped up within an hour, according to railway sources. Tickets for journeys on 23 May were released under a 100 per cent online sale system.
For the 15,266 seats available across 20 intercity trains in the Western Zone – covering Rajshahi, Rangpur and Khulna divisions – the railway website recorded about 6 million “hits” between 8am and 8:30am.
More than 12,500 tickets were sold within the first 15 minutes, and officials confirmed that all Western Zone tickets were exhausted by 9am.
Meanwhile, ticket sales for the Eastern Zone, covering Dhaka, Chattogram, Sylhet and Mymensingh divisions, began at 2pm and also faced heavy pressure on the system.
Officials said demand for North Bengal routes remained consistently high. Kamalapur Railway Station Manager Md Kabir Uddin Molla said tickets for AC berths were sold within seconds, while many users were logged out due to extreme traffic on the platform.
Sale schedule and rules
Bangladesh Railway has introduced a schedule allowing passengers to collect tickets 10 days before travel.
Tickets for 24 May journeys will be available on 14 May; 25 May tickets on 15 May; 26 May tickets on 16 May; and 27 May tickets on 17 May. Return ticket sales will begin on 21 May.
Under the rules, a passenger can buy a maximum of four tickets per day, and advance tickets are non-refundable.
For those unable to secure online tickets, “standing” tickets – 25 per cent of total seats – will be sold at station counters on the day of travel.
Special trains and cattle services
To manage Eid travel pressure, the railway will operate 10 special passenger trains, including the “Teesta Special” on the Dhaka–Dewanganj route and the “Chandpur Special” on the Chattogram–Chandpur route, running before and after Eid.
The “Parbatipur Special” will operate on the Joydebpur–Parbatipur route, while additional services will run from Bhairab and Mymensingh for devotees travelling to the Sholakia Eidgah on Eid day.
For livestock transport, two “Cattle Special” trains will operate on 22 and 23 May from Dewanganj Bazar and Islampur Bazar to Kamalapur, Tejgaon and Dhaka Cantonment stations.
Railway authorities urged passengers to secure tickets early online, noting that NID verification and the fully online system aim to curb black marketing. However, the figures underline a stark gap between capacity and demand, with nearly 400 people competing for each seat.
