Shortage of tickets
Dhaka-bound passengers suffer
Our Correspondent
Many of the Dhaka-bound passengers in Dinajpur have almost lost hope of getting tickets for bus and train due to heavy rush after the end of Eid-ul-Azha holidays.
Women and children are the worst sufferers. Besides, stickers reading No Ticket have been put up at the counters of a good number of intercity bus terminals to avoid passengers query. But many people are still making frantic efforts to manage tickets.
Due to non-availability of train or bus tickets, many could not join their workplaces, including educational institutions, in Dhaka in time. After the Eid vacation, I was to join my office on Thursday; but I couldnt manage any ticket, said Rubel Hossain, a garment factory worker in Dhaka.
Those who had booked their tickets earlier were lucky to return in time, but those who could not, thronged the railway station as well as bus counters on Thursday only to return empty-handed.
Many passengers were seen taking risky ride on rooftops after failing to mange a ticket. Golam Mostofa, a Dhaka-bound passenger, who was perched on the rooftop of Ekota Express, an intercity train, said he took this risky journey because he could not buy a ticket and had no other option to each Dhaka.
Dinajpur Railway Station Superintendent Golam Mostofa said, they had sold a total of 600 tickets for this train; but around 2000 passengers were crowding the station for Ekota Express. Passengers, many without tickets, boarded the train as soon as it entered the station, he added.
On the other hand, the railway authorities on Thursday failed to maintain the train schedules, causing sufferings to passengers.
Ekota Express was scheduled to leave the station for Dhaka at around 9.30 pm, but it left the station at around 2 am.
