Today, on March 30, the advanced sale of train tickets for western zone travelers for April 9 commenced at 8 am. However, the official E-ticket website encountered an unprecedented surge in traffic, with an astounding 1.23 crore hits recorded within the initial 30 minutes.

Despite the overwhelming demand, the website experienced slowdowns, errors, and users abandoning the online queue. Consequently, it took until 10:30 am to sell 14,001 out of the available 14,770 tickets.

The sale for tickets in the East zone will commence at 2 pm, with 16,696 tickets up for grabs.

The transport sector during Eid holidays has been embroiled in controversies over profiteering and government attempts to regulate prices, as bus companies substantially hike prices for peak travel days.