Public mixed over changes to train ticket returns

Statistics from the company shows 73.5 percent of returns occurred within 24 hours before the train's departure and only 14.8 percent were done 48 hours or earlier.

"The new measure will provide convenience to more people when they buy train tickets," said Zhao Jian, a professor at Beijing Jiaotong University who specializes in China's railway system. "The schedule for each service is fixed so if passengers return tickets too late, it will become virtually invalid because other people are not able to buy it. It is unfair for them."

Zhao said the different return rates will encourage passengers to figure out their trip as early as possible.

Allowing passengers to return tickets at any station will also help to alleviate stress on train services during peak periods, he added.

But the changes, which China Railway Corp insists are intended to benefit passengers, sparked mixed reactions from the public.

"The railway authority should have adopted this measure much earlier," said Lin Muqi, an office worker in Beijing who frequently travels by train. "Otherwise some people would hold a bunch of tickets and then select the most comfortable one to take, leaving others like me nothing but frustration and anxiety."

Others said China Railway Corp, and its predecessor, the railways ministry, never solicited the public's opinions in making policies or adjusting them.

"If we have to pay a diversified rate to return the ticket, why can't the railway company pay us a diversified amount of compensation if the train is delayed?" asked a Sina Weibo user under the screen name Summer9996.

Another micro-blogger niuhp said, "I understand the move aims to curb buying too many tickets and scalping, but it also hurts those who have to change their trip suddenly due to reasons out of their control."

During this year's session of the National People's Congress in March, the Ministry of Railways, established in 1949, was dismantled. Its administrative functions were absorbed by the Ministry of Transport, while the China Railway Corp took over its commercial functions.