Long queues as Eid bus tickets go on sale, night coaches sell out

Advance bus tickets for Eid journeys home have begun selling, with long queues forming at counters as travellers scramble to secure seats.

From early Tuesday, people were seen lining up at several bus counters in the capital.

A visit to different counters found that tickets for buses scheduled to leave at night were sold out in the first rush, while some seats for day services remained available in the morning.

Fares for non-AC buses have risen by Tk 50 to Tk 200 depending on the route.

Bus operators say they are charging fares fixed by the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA). During regular periods, these companies typically charge less than the fare fixed by the BRTA. Meanwhile, fares for

AC buses have doubled.

Around 10:30am, Mohammad Mizan, an official at the Shyamoli Ring Road counter of Hanif Enterprise, said tickets for destinations including Thakurgaon, Panchagarh, Dinajpur and Nilphamari were being sold from the counter.

“We opened the counter at 4:30am. People were sitting on the footpath waiting. We started selling tickets at 6:30am in the morning,” Mizan said.

He said tickets for buses departing on the nights of Mar 17 and 18 were sold out in the first rush.

There were no tickets left for night services on Mar 15 and 16 either. However, seats for morning, afternoon and evening trips on those days were still available.

Mizan maintained that fares had not increased and they were charging rates fixed by BRTA. Customers, however, alleged that fares had gone up by Tk 100 to Tk 150.

Farhad Hossain, who bought four tickets to Thakurgaon, said he paid Tk 1,080 per ticket. “Usually, these tickets are available for Tk 900,” he said while standing at the counter.

Responding to the complaint, Mizan said: “The BRTA fixed fare for non-AC buses is Tk 1,080. Throughout the year, we charge a little less.”

Fares for AC buses, however, have risen sharply. Arafat Paribahan is charging Tk 2,600 for a sleeper-class seat to Dinajpur. The fare for a double-decker AC “suite class” bus is Tk 2,200.

Sabbir Hossain, who came to buy tickets, said that throughout the year, sleeper buses to Dinajpur usually charge between Tk 1,200 and Tk 1,300, while AC chair fares range from Tk 1,000 to Tk 1,100. “Now that has doubled,” he said.

Md Hasan, a counter worker at Arafat Paribahan, said not all tickets for their buses had been released yet and that more seats would become available.

“I thought we would all go on a sleeper bus together. But it would cost more than Tk 10,000 taka for four people to go one way,” Sabbir said.

“Now I am thinking of sending my wife and children ahead. I will leave before Eid, even if it takes a bit of an effort.”