CCTV

Headline News

China

China seeks cure for Spring Festival rail travel headache

At the Beijing West Railway Station, 15 temporary ticket booths have been opened. To keep the lines at no more than 20 people as required by the Railway Ministry, Beijing railway authority set up 410 ticket booths at the main Beijing Railway Station and the Beijing West Railway Station. Tickets will be sold around the clock.

Deputy General Manager of the Guangzhou Railway Group Cao Jianguo asked passengers to "be patient" and "try again" with the booking telephone hot line 96020088 in Guangdong.

Nine stations in the southern province have been networked this year with the telephone hotline, which means passengers can pick up or cancel reserved tickets much more easily by showing identification.

At Guangzhou railway stations, the Guangzhou Command College of Armed Police was mobilized at seven ticket booths. They were on duty during last year's Spring Festival rush, which was aggravated by unusual snowstorms.

The Railway Ministry expects 188 million people to travel during the coming travel rush, up 8 percent from last year, with daily traffic expected to hit 4.7 million people.

Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Hangzhou are the "most bustling hubs" before the Spring Festival, which falls on January 26, so railway authorities have added 319 temporary express passengers trains this year.

Despite these efforts, many passengers still feared that they might not be able to get tickets to get home in time.

Qiao Kejiao, a Beijing hospital clerk, said she might resort to being duty on Lunar New Year Eve and traveling on the second day, when traffic would be lighter.

<< 1 2 3 4 >>