Train ticket price to hike 15% from Feb 1 (Xinhua) Updated: 2005-01-14 00:15
The Ministry of Railways (MOR) on Wednesday announced that prices of train tickets
will be increased before the Spring Festival, China's traditional lunar new
year, which will fall on Feb. 9 this year.
Passengers
queue up to buy train tickets at railway station in Xi'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi
Province January 10, 2005.[newsphoto] | The price
hike is attempted to control passengers during the peak travel period due to a
shortage of space.
Price of hard seat tickets will rise by 15 percent and price of sleeper
tickets will rise by 20 percent from Feb. 1 to 7, according to the Ministry of
Railways.
Chinese travelers will make an unprecedented 14.5 billion journeys by train
during the 40-day peak travel season, which will start on Jan. 25, 4.97 million
or 3.5 percent more than the same period last year.
A MOR source said the ministry held a public hearing on ticket price hike in
2002 and the price fluctuation was approved. In the past three years, the
Ministry rose train ticket prices during peak season by 15-20 percent.
China's travel season peaks as millions of migrant workers and college
students travel home for their family unions.
In 2002, the State Development Planning Commission held a public hearing on
ticket price rises during peak periods. It authorized railway ministries to
increase average seat prices by 15 percent during the Spring Festival.
The authorization has been used for the past two years, as an effective
pricing mechanism for rail transport.
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