Economy

491 ticket scalpers arrested during Spring Festival

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-02-09 13:21

BEIJING - Chinese railway police arrested 491 ticket scalpers during the Spring Festival holiday, confiscating 1,827 train tickets, according to a statement released Tuesday by the public security bureau of the Ministry of Railways.

The statement also said that railway police destroyed 32 sites where tickets were scalped. Additionally, police seized more than 15,000 fake ID cards used to cheat the train-ticket selling system that allowed only one ticket for each buyer.

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Prior to the festival, Chinese railway police arrested more than 1,000 ticket scalpers during a crackdown that started last December.

A surge in passenger numbers had been testing the country's railway system as hundreds of millions shuttled between hometowns and work places for reunions during the Spring Festival. The occasion, which started on February 3 this year, is the most important holiday in the country.

According to the statement, railway police deployed nearly 3,000 officers to check for potential threats for fires and explosions in the country's railway network.

In addition, more police officers patrolled luggage rooms, ticket selling outlets, waiting rooms and other key areas in railway stations. Officers seized more than 7,000 knives, according to authorities.