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Bus Trips Before Eid

Operators hike ticket prices

Staff Correspondent
Like the previous years, many private bus operators have started to charge higher fare from the passengers ahead of the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha and Durga Puja compared to the usual time.
This correspondent visited different bus terminals in the capital yesterday where many passengers alleged they had to pay Tk 50 to Tk 70 more than the standard ticket price.
"Usually, it costs TK 420 to go to Bogra from Dhaka but now they are charging Tk 470,” said Saidur Rahman, who bought the ticket for October 1 from the Mazar Road counter of Shyamoli Paribahan.
Sujan Mandal, another passenger who wanted to travel to Rajshahi on
the same day, said Hanif Paribahan charged him Tk 620 for aTk 550 ticket. He bought the ticket from the Gabtoli counter.
''It has become a common trend of the bus operators to charge extra ahead of the Eid and we have become accustomed to this nuisance," said Jubayer Rahman, a ticket-seeker, at the SR Paribahan's Kallyanpur counter.
In response to the allegations, the bus operators yesterday said they were charging the passengers as per the government directions.
'Throughout the year, we charge less than the fare set by the government. But during the Eid, we charge as per the government rate. Because of this, the fare increases slightly," said Romesh Chandra Ghosh, managing
director of Shyamoli Paribahan.
Meanwhile, many passengers yesterday failed to get tickets for the days they had planned to travel, even after standing in long queues at different bus terminals in the capital for hours.
Yesterday was the second day of the advance bus ticket sale ahead of the two upcoming festivals.
” I wanted to buy a ticket for October 2. But the bus staff told me all the tickets for that day were already sold yesterday," said Ibrahim Miah at SR Paribahan Gabtoli counter. He had to buy the ticket for the previous day.
Many passengers alleged the bus operators were keeping the tickets for the VIPs.
However, the bus operators have denied the allegation, saying a limited number of transports against a huge demand was leading to the crisis. They said the demand for tickets for October
2-5 was high.
The homegoers are likely to get a five-day holiday, starting from October 3, for the two upcoming festivals.
Meanwhile, state-run Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) will start advance bus ticket sale on September 26. Bangladesh Railway will also start selling advance train tickets on the same day.