Society
Travelers flock to buy Spring Festival tickets
By Wu Yiyao in Shanghai and Wang Chao in Beijing (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-21 07:16
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 A migrant worker carries his luggage while walking past a policeman at Beijing Railway Station, January 20, 2010. China's railways are expected to carry 210 million passengers during the upcoming 40-day travel peak as people flock home for the traditional Spring Festival holiday, according to the Ministry of Railway, Xinhua News Agency reported. [Agencies] |
To ease the pressure of huge crowds flooding to get tickets home during next month's Lunar New Year, a 10,000-sq m temporary ticket office with 200 windows - the largest of its kind ever built in China - opened at the north square of the Shanghai Railway Station yesterday.
"I came to the railway station this morning at 6 am and was allowed to enter the ticket office at noon," said a 47-year-old Shanghai resident surnamed Gu who was standing at the head of the line at window No 1.
After nine hours of waiting, Gu got three tickets for Xi'an on Feb 9. "I am so exhausted but it's worthwhile. I wasn't sure whether I'd get the tickets and now I feel so lucky. I think the 200 windows make it more convenient," he said.
But Zhang Xinchi, 23, a migrant worker from Hubei province who came at 1 pm, was less lucky. He was told that the ticket he wanted for Wuhan on Jan 30 was sold out.
"So I bought a ticket for the next day, higher class and more expensive. Anyway, it's better than last year when I didn't go back to my hometown because I failed to get a ticket and couldn't afford the flight," he said.
"There are around 700 windows in Shanghai selling tickets for Spring Festival travel. Buyers at other windows dotting the city may get the tickets while these buyers were heading for the huge ticket office here," he said.
"A ticket buyer may queue for 20 minutes in the day time and five minutes at maximum in the evening. However, more windows do not necessarily mean more tickets. Ticket buying may still be difficult for many," said a staff with the Shanghai Railway Station who asked to be anonymous.
More than 100 policemen were at the ticket office to keep order.
In the capital
Meanwhile, in Beijing, the first day of sales for Spring Festival travel saw a mild increase in passengers.
The Beijing Railway Station almost doubled its police force from 270 to 500 to guarantee security over the past few days. Four police cars were patrolling the station yesterday.
"Every half an hour there would be a check," a policeman surnamed Zheng said. "Our major target is scalpers."
According to Ma Jianpeng, a policeman at the Beijing railway police station, scalping is not serious this year, thanks to a crackdown last year.
"These days the passenger flow is stable: 50,000 to 70,000 every day." Ma said.
Wang Shuwen is among those planning to travel home on the first day of the Spring Festival on Jan 30. Wang, together with his five colleagues, are heading to Daqing, northeastern Heilongjiang province.
Wang has been working on the construction site for the Guangqumen subway station. Their holidays end on Feb 19.
"The work is good, we earn more than we do back home," Wang said, "and the boss treats us very well, we even got a Spring Festival bonus." But Wang didn't say how much they received.
Wang and his colleagues booked tickets weeks ago, when there were still plenty of seats.
"We learned from the news that after Jan 25, tickets will become harder to get," Wang said, "so we acted ahead of time."
In the long queue in front of the ticket office, there is a special passenger, a 70-year-old foreigner holding a book named Travel around China.
"The ticket is fine, I don't think it is that hard to get," the man said. He said he came from the United States, but would not give his name. "I am traveling around China, trains are much cheaper."
"The biggest passenger flows haven't arrived yet," Hao Shupeng, section chief of the station's publicity department, told China Daily. "We built two temporary ticket offices which have 60 windows, but since the permanent ones can still meet demand, we are not moving any equipment into the temporary offices."
Hao estimated that traffic will peak around Feb 10, a few days before the Spring Festival.
Wei Tian contributed to the story
