Advance train tickets for Eid-ul-Azha travels go on sale from Aug 18

The advance sales of train tickets for Eid-ul-Azha holidaymakers will start on Aug 18.

Tickets for journeys on Aug 27 will be sold on that day, Railways Minister Mazibul Hoque told the media on Thursday.

He said advance tickets will be available at Dhaka's Kamalapur and Chittagong rail stations from Aug 18 to 22 between 8am and 4pm.

Tickets for return journeys will be available from Aug 25 to 29.

Hoque said the railways expect a rush of passengers as the highways have been damaged in the monsoon.

"We estimate the railway service will carry more than 2.5 million people each day ahead of the holidays. We have arranged an additional 138 coaches for the services," he said.

Eid ticket sale schedule:

Sale date	Travel date
Aug 18	Aug 27
Aug 19	Aug 28
Aug 20	Aug 29
Aug 21	Aug 30
Aug 22	Aug 31

The minister said special services usually start three days ahead of the Eid, but this year it will start a day earlier. The seven special trains will operate until seven days after Eid.

Hoque said the railways have taken measures to account for the effect of floods on rail tracks in the northern parts of the country.

"We have deployed additional manpower in those areas and hope the tracks will be fixed before Eid."