Advance train and bus tickets will be available from the morning today, ahead of Eid holidays that begin in the first week of September.

Each year thousands of holidaymakers crowd ticket counters at different bus terminals and the Kamalapur Railway Station for the advance tickets. A large number of them even start forming queues the night before the counters open.

Railway Minister Mazibul Hoque announced the dates for sale of the advance train tickets at a press conference at Rail Bhaban yesterday. 

Bangladesh Railway (BR) will sell the tickets for August 27 from Dhaka and Chittagong at 8:00am today, he said.

Advance tickets for August 28, 29, 30 and 31 will be sold on August 19, 20, 21, and 22 respectively. Sale of advance return tickets will begin from August 25, said the minister.

This year 138 additional coaches will be added to the existing coaches, raising the total to 1,296. This number is 74 higher than the previous year.

In addition, BR will operate four special trains from August 29 to September 3, two on the Eid day and the other from August 23 to September 1, he said.

Weekly holidays for all intercity trains have been cancelled for five days starting on August 28. “We will try our best to serve the people within our limited capacity,” Mazibul added.

Amjad Hossain, director general of BR, said if the Eid falls on September 2, tickets for September 1 will be sold through the regular process.

Rail communication in Dinajpur, Lalmonirhat and Kurigram had remained suspended since Sunday as railway tracks were damaged at several points. The affected rail routes are Parbatipur-Dinajpur-Panchagarh, Lalmonirhat-Burimari and Teesta junction in Lalmonirhat to Ramna Bazar in Kurigram's Chilmari, he said.

In response to a query regarding the status of the rail network, the rail minister said they hoped that everything would be normal before the Eid, and if not, they would act accordingly.

Private bus operators, in the meantime, will start selling advance tickets from different bus counters from the morning, said Faruk Talukder Sohel, chairman of Bangladesh Bus-Truck Owners' Association.

However, several bus owners have expressed concern due to poor road and highway conditions -- especially the ones connecting Dhaka with northern and south-western regions.

ADVANCE LAUNCH TICKETS FROM AUGUST 20

Private launch operators will start sale of advance tickets for launch cabins from August 20 and special launch services will start from August 28, said Zainal Abedin, joint director (Dhaka river port) of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA).

The decision was taken at a coordination meeting held today at Sadarghat Launch Terminal, he added.

The meeting was attended by officials of BIWTA and representatives from launch owners, workers' associations and law enforcement agencies with BIWTA Chairman M Mozammel Haque in the chair.

Usually, 70 to 75 launches operate on 41 routes, mostly between the country's southern regions and Sadarghat terminal in Dhaka. Some 130 more vessels will join the fleet before the Eid to carry eight to 10 lakh passengers.

These launches have around 10,000 to 12,000 VIP, First Class and Second Class cabins, said representatives of several launch operators.

Meanwhile, another meeting between law enforces and launch owners was held yesterday at the office of deputy inspector general (DIG) of Marine Police to ensure security of waterways during the Eid holidays, said a press release.

DIG of Marine Police Sheikh Mohammad Maruf Hasan chaired the meeting.