KUALA LUMPUR, June 12 — The main bus terminals in the city have become increasingly congested with people rushing to buy tickets for the Aidilfitri celebrations ‘balik kampung’ soon.

The rush for the tickets have started even though it is just the first week of Ramadan.

A Bernama check at the South Integrated Terminal (TBS) in Bandar Tasik Selatan yesterday, revealed that many were lining up to buy tickets to their respective destinations in the south or east coast states.

Most of those queuing up were from the younger generation, especially university and college students.

“I plan to go back one week before Hari Raya because I have two weeks’ leave,” said second-year Universiti Kuala Lumpur student, Nur Shahidah Ahmad, 23, from Johor Baru.

Final-year student at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Shah Alam, Ahmad Firdaus Rahmat,25, said he always bought bus tickets for Hari Raya early so that he could go home to his family in Melaka.

In the case of Aminuddin Mustafa, 28, a civil servant from Kedah, he uses public transport like the bus during the festive seasons in order to avoid traffic congestion that is a perennial occurrence during festive seasons.

“The highways are usually congested during the festive seasons, so I prefer using public transport to go back to my hometown,” he said.

“I will buy tickets early so that I can secure my journey and also to give me time to prepare for the journey home,” he said.

Meanwhile, the chief executive officer of Sani Express, Abu Bakar Mohammad, said, all the bus tickets to Kelantan have been sold out since a few days ago.

“We began selling the tickets in mid-May, and the favourite dates were June 30 to July 4,” he said.

“We do not have plans to have additional buses,” he told Bernama, adding that there were still tickets for buses going to the northern states.

Manager of Utama Ekspres Sdn Bhd Tajudin Mohd Yunos said tickets to Kuantan, Alor Star, Butterworth and Ipoh were still available.

Similarly, ticket counter operator for Causeway Link Mohd Nizamer Mohd Azli said ticket sales were still slow, but expected to pick up during the middle of Ramadan. — Bernama