This Eid journey will be the first comfortable journey for South Chattogram residents by train on the Chattogram-Cox's Bazar route.
The Eid special train will run for 5 days on Chattogram-Cox's Bazar route, two days before Eid and three days after Eid.
Eid journey by train will start on April 3. Advance tickets will be available from March 24. Eid journey tickets will be sold online. The train will stop at stations of 7 upazilas including Patiya, Dohazari, Satkania and Chakaria. The Chattogram-Cox's Bazar route train will depart from Chattogram Railway Station at 7 AM for Cox's Bazar and arrive at 10:20 AM. It will leave Cox's Bazar at 7 pm and reach Chattogram at 10:50 pm. The train will stop at Janalihat, Patiya, Dohazari, Satkania, Chakaria, Dulahazara and Ramu stations.
Divisional Railway Manager Mohammad Saiful Islam said that for the first time two special trains will run on the Chattogram-Cox's Bazar route for the Eid journey.
During Eid, the demand for train tickets increases two to three times compared to that during normal times.
Considering the huge demand of passengers, the Railways will run special trains on the Chattogram-Cox's Bazar route during this year's Eid trip. We hope that this will reduce the suffering of the people of South Chattogram and Cox's Bazar during the Eid journey.
According to railway sources, commercial trains started running on Cox's Bazar route on December 1. Since then, there has been a huge demand for passengers on the Cox's Bazar route. But only two trains are running on this route for three months. And that too, only on the Dhaka-Chattogram-Cox's Bazar route. At present, 'Cox's Bazar Express' and 'Parjatak Express' are running non-stop on the Dhaka-Chattogram-Cox's Bazar route.
After the inauguration of the Dohazari-Cox's Bazar railway line at a cost of 18 thousand crore taka last November, commercial trains started running on this route for the first time on December 1. Despite huge passenger demand, only two trains are plying on this route for the last three months. Only 115 passengers get a chance to go directly from Chattogram to Cox's Bazar by train every day. The people of South Chattogram are not getting the benefits of the Dohazari-Cox's Bazar railway line as the two railways are non-stop. This created anger among Chattogram people.
It is known that the shortage of vehicles, traffic jams and excessive fares are daily companions of the people of South Chattogram. Apart from this, there is no rail traffic even though there is a railway station. As a result, the people of seven upazilas of South Chattogram have to spend Eid with suffering. However, this time the railway authorities will launch two Eid special trains on the Chattogram-Cox's Bazar route for the first time to make the Eid journey comfortable. The two special trains will stop at seven stations in South Chattogram and Cox's Bazar route.