Cry for train, bus tickets in Khulna

Dhaka-bound passengers from Khulna city suffered immensely yesterday and the day before as many of them failed to manage train and bus tickets in the city.
Meanwhile, lack of sitting arrangements at the bus terminals also intensified sufferings of the passengers.
Passengers hardly enter the waiting rooms at the terminals as the rooms have remained under control of vagabonds or floating people.
The people traveling with women and children had to suffer most.
Besides, stickers reading ‘No Ticket’ have been put up at the counters of a good number of intercity bus terminals to avoid passengers’ query in this regard.  But many people are still making frantic efforts to manage tickets.
Due to non-availability of train or bus tickets, many Eid vacationers could not join their workplaces, including educational institutions in Dhaka, on time.  “My office reopened on Monday (July 20) but I couldn’t manage tickets for Tuesday (July 21),” said   Hasan Ahmed Molla, a private service holder 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 Tuesday only to return empty-handed.
Mahmudul Haque, another private service holder, said he stood in queue to get a ticket at Khulna railway station in the last two days.  But, every day he failed to get ticket to go to Dhaka for joining his office in time.
Fatema Akter Sumi, a young housewife said, “There are no separate queues for women. I have been waiting for several hours for ticket in the queue with hazards, but failed to get the ticket and now the authorities say that all the tickets had already been sold.”
Khulna railway station master Kazi Amirul Islam said most of the return tickets for AC normal and AC cabins to return to Dhaka and other cities were booked ahead of Eid, mostly by VIPs.  Only a limited number of normal chair tickets are being sold through the counters.  So, many of the Dhaka-bound people did not get tickets.  Pritam Mondal, an employee of Eagle Paribahan of Khulna counter, said that their company put into service extra busses ahead of Eid.  But all those tickets had been booked earlier.
“We are compelled to refuse seats to hundreds of passengers queuing up in our counters,” he added.
At Sonadanga central bus terminal, some passengers alleged that operators took advantage of the rush and charged extra.
Nasim Hossain Piyal, a Dhaka University student said, “It is difficult to get a ticket during and after Eid---I managed a ticket by paying extra.”
Zakir Hossain Biplob, general secretary of Khulna Motor Transport Workers’ Union said, “We are operating additional buses on the important routes. But the services are not adequate for addressing the exodus of about one lakh people during and after the Eid vacation”.
While visiting ticketing booths of different transport service providers at the city’s BRTC and Sonadanga (Khulna) bus station it was found that some of the Dhaka-bound  people were moving from one ticket booth to another hoping to get tickets by any means.   But they were witnessed to come out of the booths with pale faces.

Cry for train, bus tickets in Khulna

Dhaka-bound passengers from Khulna city suffered immensely yesterday and the day before as many of them failed to manage train and bus tickets in the city. Meanwhile, lack of sitting arrangements at the bus terminals also intensified sufferings of the passengers. Passengers hardly enter the waiting rooms at the terminals as the rooms have remained under control of vagabonds or floating people. The people traveling with women and children had to suffer most. Besides, stickers reading No Ticket have been put up at the counters of a good number of intercity bus terminals to avoid passengers query in this regard. But many people are still making frantic efforts to manage tickets. Due to non-availability of train or bus tickets, many Eid vacationers could not join their workplaces, including educational institutions in Dhaka, on time. My office reopened on Monday (July 20) but I couldnt manage tickets for Tuesday (July 21), said Hasan Ahmed Molla, a private service holder 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 Tuesday only to return empty-handed. Mahmudul Haque, another private service holder, said he stood in queue to get a ticket at Khulna railway station in the last two days. But, every day he failed to get ticket to go to Dhaka for joining his office in time. Fatema Akter Sumi, a young housewife said, There are no separate queues for women. I have been waiting for several hours for ticket in the queue with hazards, but failed to get the ticket and now the authorities say that all the tickets had already been sold. Khulna railway station master Kazi Amirul Islam said most of the return tickets for AC normal and AC cabins to return to Dhaka and other cities were booked ahead of Eid, mostly by VIPs. Only a limited number of normal chair tickets are being sold through the counters. So, many of the Dhaka-bound people did not get tickets. Pritam Mondal, an employee of Eagle Paribahan of Khulna counter, said that their company put into service extra busses ahead of Eid. But all those tickets had been booked earlier. We are compelled to refuse seats to hundreds of passengers queuing up in our counters, he added. At Sonadanga central bus terminal, some passengers alleged that operators took advantage of the rush and charged extra. Nasim Hossain Piyal, a Dhaka University student said, It is difficult to get a ticket during and after Eid---I managed a ticket by paying extra. Zakir Hossain Biplob, general secretary of Khulna Motor Transport Workers Union said, We are operating additional buses on the important routes. But the services are not adequate for addressing the exodus of about one lakh people during and after the Eid vacation. While visiting ticketing booths of different transport service providers at the citys BRTC and Sonadanga (Khulna) bus station it was found that some of the Dhaka-bound people were moving from one ticket booth to another hoping to get tickets by any means. But they were witnessed to come out of the booths with pale faces.