Sale of advance bus tickets starts

With Eid-ul-Fitr approaching, people are now crowding different inter-district bus counters selling advance tickets in the capital on Wednesday.
People are mostly buying tickets for journeys between June 13 and June 14 as this year the Eid is likely to be held on June 16 depending of moon sighting and three-day Eid vacation begins on June 15. 
Unlike previous years, this year the crowd was thinner, said transport operators. 
Leaders of Bangladesh Bus-Truck Owners’ Association announced that they would to start selling advance tickets for journeys between June 9 and June 15 on Wednesday at Gabtoli terminal, Kalyanpur, Asad Gate, Shymoli, Kalabagan, and Rajarbagh.
Since morning, people rushed to the Gabtoli bus terminal and other counters along Mirpur road and formed queues to avail their tickets.
They were seen waiting for their lucky turn at the counters of Shyamoli, Hanif, Nabil, TR Travels and SR Travels companies early in the morning to buy tickets mainly for northern and south-western districts.
Some passengers alleged that they did not get tickets, especially for journey on June 14, and the transport operators were charging extra.
Transport operators, however, claimed that they were collecting the actual fare from passengers during Eid while they had to charge lower than actual fare round the year. 
During eid the return buses came without almost any passengers, they added. 
Shymoli Paribahan managing director and a senior association leader Ramesh Chandra Ghosh told New Age that this year the gathering of ticket seekers were not huge. 
‘Many tickets are being sold via internet and it is a working day,’ he said. 
He said the rush would increase at the weekends and added that selling of advance tickets would continue.
Bad condition of roads could be a reason behind the poor response, some association leaders observed.
Passengers usually get on long-route buses for south-eastern, eastern and middle region routes at Saidabad and Mohakhali bus terminals without advance tickets.
Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation is yet to fix the date for selling advance tickets. 

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net