A staggering one crore ticket aspirants flooded the railway website and app within the first half-hour of the last day of advance ticket sales on Saturday for intercity trains ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr.
Between 8:00 am and 8:30 am, the platforms were hit 1.23 crore times as individuals vied for seats on intercity trains in the western region.
After the opening of ticket sales, during the first 30-minute window for ticket sales in the western region, there were approximately 881 aspirants for every available seat. Notably, around 10 percent of the ticket inquiries were for seats outside Dhaka.
An official from Shohoz-Synesis-Vincen JV, the official partner of Bangladesh Railway for ticket sales, confirmed these figures to Bangladesh Post.
On the final day of sales, a total of 33,500 tickets were sold, encompassing both regular and Eid special trains. Sales commenced promptly at 8:00 am, with 42 regular and three Eid special train tickets sold by the end of the day. Within the first two hours, 17,000 tickets for the western region had already been snapped up.
Traditionally, a rush at ticket counters is witnessed by those unable to secure tickets online. Despite this, the railway successfully sold 2.25 lakh tickets over the span of seven days, with all tickets being sold online this year.
In the upcoming second phase, tickets for the return journey after Eid will be issued from April 3 to April 9, ensuring a smooth travel process for passengers during the festive season.