Advance sale of train and bus tickets for Eid travel begins today

Advance ticket sales for trains and long-distance buses have begun today, Tuesday, March 3, to ensure smooth journeys for homebound passengers ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr. From early morning, passengers in the capital and across the country showed strong interest in securing tickets.

Bangladesh Railway has started selling train tickets online. Railway authorities said that this year all advance tickets are being sold online. To reduce pressure on the servers, tickets are being released at separate times based on regions.

Tickets for intercity trains in the western zone are being sold daily from 8:00 am, while tickets for the eastern zone are available from 2:00 pm. Passengers can purchase tickets through the Rail Sheba app and website.

On March 3, tickets for journeys on March 13 are being sold. Subsequently, tickets for March 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19 will be available on March 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 respectively. Return ticket sales will begin on March 13 and continue until March 19. Accordingly, return journey tickets for March 23 to 29 will be released in phases.

To handle the additional Eid rush, the railway has decided to operate 20 special trains, including five pairs of special services. Additionally, 47 extra metre-gauge coaches will be added from the Pahartali workshop. Weekly holidays of all intercity trains will remain suspended from March 16 until the day before Eid.

Besides, for passengers unable to secure tickets online, 25 percent of the total seats will be sold as standing tickets from station counters on the day of travel.

Meanwhile, advance ticket sales for long-distance buses have also started today ahead of Eid. Tickets for any travel date from March 12 until the day before Eid can be purchased through both counters and online platforms. Bus companies are allowing passengers to select their preferred bus, time and seat through designated websites.