August 29th, 2011
- Bangladesh Newspaper
After sweating hard to collect train tickets, a large number of home bound passengers were seen waiting at the platforms of Kamalapur Railway Station for hours due to the delay of the departures of several inter-city trains in the second phase of their sufferings on Sunday. Mohammad Ashrafuddin, a passenger of Ekota Express, was found eagerly waiting at the platform with his family members to go to Dinajpur.
He arrived at the Kamalapur Railway Station from Tejkunipara at 7:00am to get to his train, which was scheduled to leave for Dinajpur at 9:50am but at 11:00am he did not know when the train would arrive.“We had to struggle to purchase the ticket and now we are suffering due to the delay of trains. We still don’t know when the train will depart,” he said.
Iqbal Ahmed, another home going passenger of Rangpur Express, was waiting in the train but he did not have any idea actually when the train will leave.
“The train was scheduled to start at 9.00am but I don’t know when the train will leave. I have heard by the on duty railway stuffs that whenever the engine will come, the train will start for Rangpur,” he told The Independent at 11:05am.
Though a railway source said the trains are getting late due to the shortage of locomotives, the station master of Kamalapur Railway Station NC Saha denied the idea. It is getting late because the passengers are taking much time to take and get off from the trains almost every stations than the normal occasions, he said.
Many of the home goers complained against the countermen of the station, saying that they were charging high for tickets especially from the poor and less educated persons.
The advance tickets of all air-conditioned buses were also sold out a few days ago and the transport companies are struggling to clear the passengers as most of the companies failed to maintain their schedules due to the bus constraint. Many passengers had been waiting at the air-conditioned bus counters for several hours because the delay of the buses’ arrival from the destinations.
“We have completed our selling a few days ago. But we have to wait for buses coming from the opposite destination. If the buses do not arrive from the destinations, we cannot send the passengers in time as we do not have extra buses in hand,” Khaled Khan, manager of Saudia Paribahan, said.
When the passengers are taking much trouble to have a journey by train or air-conditioned buses, a different picture was seen at the Sayedabad Bus Terminal.
No pressure of the home bound passengers was marked on the eve of Eid-ul-Fitr, one of the greatest festivals for the Muslims.
Like every normal day, caller men were seen trying to draw the passengers’ attention raising their voices and passengers were also involved in bargaining with the tickets sellers to buy ticket at cheaper prices.
“We have experienced a dull business so far. Hopefully, the pressure of the passengers will increase from Tuesday with the commencement of the officials Eid holidays,” Mohammad Shahabuddin, a salesman of the Esha Khan Express, said.
The launch passengers were also seen suffering at the Sadarghat Bus Terminal. They have to wait long time at the terminal as the most of the launches did not come in the scheduled time owing to the under water shoals on the waterways.
The water vessels needed to go taking a detour through an alternative rout, causing much time that the scheduled time, a Sadarghat Launch Terminal staff said.
No sign was marked on the dangerous areas, forcing the launches to be more cautions to avoid the under water shoals, he added.
The launches were seen carrying more passengers beyond their capacities, putting the passengers lives into the threats.
Meanwhile, Communication Minister Syed Abul Hossain on Sunday said that the passengers are satisfied with the service of BRTC on the eve of Eid-ul-Fitr.
“People have accepted our inter-city bus services and appreciated us for introducing the new buses before Eid,” he told the journalists after paying a visit to the BRTC Bus Depot at Kamalapur.
The minister talked to the passengers on board and enquired their problems at the bus depot.
However, the minister indirectly blamed the media for disseminating news against him. “We have so many problems but media knuckles down to me. I don’t car anything,” he said.
After a visit to the Gabtoli Bus Terminal, Hossain told the journalists that panic has been created in the mind of people about the road journey.
“You people know very well who have created panic,” the minister said, “All of the society including media and civil society helped me in this regard.” Hossain also claimed that the conditions of the highways across the country have improved a lot and will be fully fit within a few days.
Earlier, the minister visited the Kamalapur Railway Station and talked to the home bound train passengers. He also conveyed his Eid greeting to the passengers during his visit.
He also claimed that 38 trains left Kamalapur station on Sunday and, of them, only two trains delayed.Among others, secretary of road department Mohammad Mozammel Haque Khan, director general of Bangladesh Railway Abu Taher, chairman of BRTC MM Iqbal and the high officials of the communication ministry, Bangladesh Railway and BRTC were also present during the minister’s visit
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