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Railway tickets in short supply

(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-12-31 07:49

The Spring Festival travel season will see millions of people traveling by train, but a mere warning from the railway authorities about the short supply of tickets will not suffice to tackle the issue, says an article on Chinanewsnet. The following is an excerpt.

The 2009 Spring Festival travel season will last 40 days from Jan 11. In the past, people had always asked two questions: if the prices would go up by a large margin; whether they could buy tickets without great difficulties. Early this month, authorities announced the ticket prices will remain unchanged, or even be lowered for some lines.

However, railway authorities issued a warning that the supply of railway tickets will still be as short as ever. They also called for the passengers to buy tickets from the official channels to avoid being cheated or overcharged.

However, the problem is largely the result of mismanagement. Ticket scalpers are reportedly able to get whatever tickets they want, and in large quantities, via various means, sometimes directly from the ticket offices at major railway stations. Their bulk purchases aggravate the ticket shortage, and passengers have to stand on long queues for days and nights to get a ticket or they have to pay double or even triple the price for a ticket from the scalpers.

They need to take concrete measures, especially to prevent scalpers from buying up the tickets .

(China Daily 12/31/2008 page8)