Eid holidaymakers have crowded ticket counters at railway stations in Dhaka as the app where 50 percent of the total tickets were supposed to be available is malfunctioning.
The scenario of Kamalapur Railway station on Thursday (May 23) was that of ticket counters bursting with passengers, unable to book tickets online, standing in queues since the night before.
They are complaining that despite repeated efforts the app is not working properly and they are unable to get tickets.
“I’ve been trying to book a ticket online for the last two days,” Yakul Ali, who has been standing in line since midnight, told Bangla Tribune.
“Even if I had stood in line I would have been able to buy four tickets. But tickets are unavailable in the app,” he added.
Riazul Karim who is hoping to buy tickets to Rangpur said that the app freezes when trying to book the tickets.
“They made such a big deal out of the app saying that railway services will be available there,” he said.
“Then why isn’t the app working? Why develop such a low standard app?” he asked.
Meanwhile, Railway Minister Md Nurul Islam Sujan on Wednesday (May 22) said that they have received grievances from the passengers.
“Not being able to supply tickets online is obviously our failure. We’ll take steps in this regard,” he said.
He added that the tickets that won’t be sold through the apps will be available at counters.
An organisation named Computer Network Systems Limited Bangladesh (CNSBD) has been providing services to the railway ministry and sources said that there are nearly 150,000 online hits for tickets during Eid.
However, CNSBD is only capable of taking the load of 20,000 hit at a time which might be the reason for people suffering while buying tickets online.
The railway minister said that actions would be taken against them if they were found to be negligent in their service.
Fifty percent of the total advance tickets were supposed to be available through sms, website or the app.
Kamalapur Railway Station’s Manager Aminul Hoque said on Thursday that everyone was standing in proper lines and there were no untoward incident yet.
Advance railway tickets went on sale on May 23 at counters at the Kamalapur, Airport, Tejgaon, Banani railway stations and old Railway Building at Fulbaria in Dhaka.