Staff Reporter :
Many holidaymakers want to travel by trains, have been staying in Kamlapur Railway Station with quilt-pillow to get advance train tickets.
Meanwhile, the online tickets for April 30 of the holidaymakers by rail were given on Tuesday, but all the tickets were sold out at 8:01am though selling of tickets started at 8:00am.
Mohammad Masud Sarwar, Manager of Kamalapur Railway Station, said that 18 lakh hits were made in one minute. In this one minute about 13,000 passengers have bought tickets through online, he added.
But many passengers didn’t accept Masud Sarwar’s statement and the ticket seekers said station manager’s argument not acceptable.
They alleged that tickets are manipulated online, which is sold at a higher price in the black market.
“I have spoken to Sahaj.com, the company that handles e-tickets for trains. At least 15 to 18 lakh people have entered online at a time to buy train tickets,” Masud Sarwar said.
He said, there have been complaints of suffering and not getting tickets online since the ticket sales started.
The sahaj.com authority yesterday briefed regarding selling of tickets through online and today I have spoken to them myself, the station manager said.
About 15-18 lakh ticket seekers have entered in online today at a time and of them 17 – 18 lakh ticket seekers did not get tickets, he added. Many complained that some railway staff are involved with ticket black-marketing as all tickets are not given at the counter. Especially if anyone wants an AC ticket but railway staffs said that it is sold out, some ticket seekers claimed adding that tickets are available at higher prices till before Eid in the black market.
However, Railway Minister Nurul Islam Sujan said that it was not correct for railway workers to be involved with ticket black market. Because the one whose ticket has to be cut with NID number. So where is the opportunity for the black market, the minister questioned?
On Tuesday, due to the power outage, the counter also stopped of selling tickets twice. The ticket seekers who were waiting in line for 24 to 30 hours expressed their displeasure.
Bangladesh Railway has started selling Eid advance tickets from April 23. Fifty percent of the tickets are available online and the remaining 50 percent at the ticket counter.
However, Saddam Hussein, a passenger of Rajshahi, has taken a stand with a kantha-pillow on the counter number 4 to buy a ticket for May 01.
He said he would have to stay on the counter till Wednesday morning for tickets. It is not possible to stand or sit for a long time. So I am bringing kantha-pillow, he added.
