Bangladesh Railway will sell 50 percent of available tickets from now on, its Director General Dhirendra Nath Mazumder told The Daily Star today.

BR headquarters has given necessary instruction in this regard, he said.

However, it may take a few days to implement the government instruction to maintain 50 percent occupancy because many advance tickets have already been sold, BR officials said.

Taking the sharp rise in Covid-19 cases into consideration, the government yesterday issued fresh directives, which said public transports cannot carry passengers over 50 percent of their capacity and have to follow Covid-19 guidelines while doing so.

Half of the 50 percent tickets will be sold at counters while the rest through online, Jahangir Hossain, general manager (East) of BR said.

They may consider selling all tickets online if Covid-19 situation worsens further, he said.

Ticket price will remain the same, he added.

Mihir Kanti Guha, general manager (West) of BR, said they have already given instructions to the divisional office in this regard.