Bangladesh Railway’s train schedule has jumbled up on the very beginning of the Eid journey.
Holidaymakers, who had collected tickets on May 22— the first day of advance sales — are expected to leave capital Dhaka on Friday (May 31).
The Rangpur Express train was scheduled to leave the Kamalapur Station at 9am. However, the train schedule display board shows it has been delayed by five hours to 2pm.
The Rajshahi-bound ‘Dhumketu’ train, scheduled for 6am has been delayed by at least two hours.
Syedpur-bound Nilsagar Express has been delayed by nearly two hours. Sonar Bangla Express, which operates services to Chattogram was delayed by over 30 minutes.
Parabat Express left for Sylhet at 7.30am, nearly one hour after its scheduled departure.
Homemaker Nurzahan Begum said she came at the station at 8am with her children to catch a train for Rangpur and has been waiting since then.
Meanwhile, Railways Minister Nurul Islam Sujon visited the Kamalapur Railway Station on the first day of the Eid journey.
Speaking to the media later, he said a total of 52 trains will leave Dhaka on Friday.
“A total of 18 trains have left Dhaka since 10am, while the schedules of four trains were disrupted. We sincerely apologise for this,” he said.
The official three-day holiday for the Eid-Ul-Fitr starts on Jun 4 (Tuesday). However, the holiday rush started from Friday as there’s is only one working day (Jun 3, Monday) between the weekend and the holidays.
Eid that follows a month of fasting will be celebrated on Jun 5 or Jun 6 in Bangladesh, depending on the sighting of the moon.