Eid travel: Advance train ticket sales to begin on 21 May

The government has tentatively scheduled advance train ticket sales for the Eid-ul-Azha holidays from 21 May to 27 May. Tickets for intercity trains operating from 31 May to 6 June will be available during this period and, like last year, will be sold exclusively online.

According to railway sources, advance ticket sales for trains in the western region (Rajshahi, Rangpur, and Khulna divisions) will begin at 8:00am and continue till 2:00pm. From 2:00pm onward, ticket sales for the eastern region (Dhaka, Sylhet, and Chattogram divisions) will commence.

For the return journey after Eid, advance train tickets will be sold from 30 May to 5 June. This ticket sales schedule has been prepared assuming Eid will be on 7 June.

Sources from the railway said that officials have initially prepared the schedule after internal meetings. An inter-ministerial meeting regarding Eid travel will be held next Monday at the Biddut Bhaban, where Mohammad Fauzul Kabir Khan, the adviser to the Ministry of Railways, may officially announce the schedule.

Tickets for trains on 31 May will be sold on 21 May, tickets for 1 June on 22 May, tickets for 2 June on 23 May, tickets for 3 June on 24 May, tickets for 4 June on 25 May, tickets for 5 June on 26 May and 6 June tickets will be sold on 27 May.

Each person can buy advance tickets only once and can purchase a maximum of four tickets. Advance tickets are non-refundable. On the day of travel, an additional 25 per cent of standing tickets will be sold, which must be purchased from the station counter, not online.

Sales of advance tickets of intercity trains usually begin 10 days prior to the journey. However, ticket sales for trains on 7 and 8 June will depend on the sighting of Eid-ul-Azha moon, as no intercity trains operate on Eid day and only a limited number run the day after.

According to railway sources, a total of 43 intercity trains will depart from Dhaka daily during the Eid travel period, offering 33,315 seats in total. This means over 33,000 advance tickets will be sold each day.

Bangladesh Railway will operate three special cattle trains to Dhaka to facilitate the transport of sacrificial animals ahead of Eid-ul-Azha. The first will depart Dewanganj Bazar in Jamalpur on 2 June at 5:00pm. The second will leave Islampur, Jamalpur at 3:40pm the same day. The third train will again depart from Dewanganj Bazar on 3 June at 5:00pm.

In addition, 10 special passenger trains will run for Eid travel. These are: The Teesta Special will operate between Dhaka and Dewanganj Bazar from 4 to 6 June. The Chandpur Special will run on the Chattogram–Chandpur route over the same period. For return journeys after Eid, these special trains will operate from 9 to 14 June. Two Parbatipur Special trains will also run from Joydebpur (Gazipur) to Parbatipur (Dinajpur) following the same schedule.

On Eid day, four special trains will run to Kishoreganj to facilitate travel to the Sholakia Eidgah for Eid prayers. These trains will depart from Bhairab and Mymensingh.

The weekly holidays for all intercity trains will be suspended from 3 June until Eid day. 29 meter-gauge coaches from the Pahartali workshop and 15 broad-gauge coaches from the Saidpur workshop will be added to various trains to accommodate more Eid travelers.

Railway authorities have also instructed officials to ensure timely operations of trains. Special monitoring cells will be set up at both divisional and regional control rooms, with designated officers assigned to supervise operations round the clock to ensure smooth and uninterrupted travel during the holiday period.