STAFF CORRESPONDENT

Bangladesh Railway (BR) yesterday began selling advance online tickets for intercity trains ahead of Eid-ul-Azha.

According to ticketing data, a total of 31,240 seats are allocated for passengers travelling from Dhaka on May 23, including Eastern Zone’s 15,974 seats for 23 trains and Western Zone’s 15,266 seats for 20 trains.

Ticket sales began at 8:15am yesterday. A total of 29,234 advance tickets, around 93 percent, were sold by 6:00pm for journeys scheduled from Dhaka ahead of Eid.

Across the country, 48,658 tickets were sold by that time.

Shondip Debnath, chief executive officer of BR’s online ticketing platform Rail Sheba, confirmed the figures.

According to the advance ticket sales schedule, tickets for journeys on May 24, 25, 26, and 27 will be sold on May 14, 15, 16, and 17, respectively. Return tickets after Eid will go on sale from May 21.

A passenger can buy tickets only once a day for advance and return Eid journeys. A maximum of four tickets can be purchased at a time, and the tickets are non-refundable.

BR will also operate 10 special passenger trains and two cattle special trains during Eid.