Récemment, a Guangdong resident reported purchasing a train ticket from Zhongshan to Guangzhou on the official 12306 website, only to discover on the train that another passenger had bought the same seat for the same day through a third-party app.
En février 2, Upstream News (reporting email: [email protected]) inquired with both the 12306 platform and third-party ticketing platforms, confirming the possibility of such incidents. Passengers encountering this situation are advised to promptly communicate with railway authorities and the third-party platform for resolution.
User Xiaozhang posted that on January 31, she bought a C7616 high-speed train ticket from Guangdong Zhongshan North Station to Guangzhou South Station on the 12306 official website. Upon boarding, she discovered another passenger, an uncle, with an identical ticket, except for the passenger’s name.
Due to the short journey of 32 minutes and the generosity of other passengers vacating seats, Xiaozhang mentioned that it didn’t cause any issues. She recommended avoiding third-party tickets to prevent potential awkward situations.
The report mentions similar incidents shared by other users in comments, mostly attributed to date mistakes or missing the intended stop. Cependant, occurrences of seat conflicts have been reported before, with resolution typically handled by train staff.
En juin 2019, SP. Pang encountered a similar situation in Beijing South Station, where she and another person purchased tickets for the same seat three minutes apart. The issue was eventually resolved by the train conductor, who reassigned Ms. Pang to a different carriage.
En février 2, a Chongqing 12306 staff member stated they haven’t encountered such cases, emphasizing that third-party platforms generally sell tickets officially issued by the railway. Canton 12306 staff mentioned no « double-selling » issue with official tickets but acknowledged the possibility of third-party platforms altering information, leading to such situations. They emphasized that railway authorities should handle these cases. Notamment, official tickets from the platform are not sold twice.
The user Xiaozhang, encountering the « double-selling » issue, purchased the ticket through the WeChat-based Tongcheng Travel app. When Upstream News contacted Tongcheng Travel without success, another third-party ticket seller, Zhixing, acknowledged the possibility of such occurrences, attributing them to system errors. They recommended contacting Zhixing for resolution if such situations arise.
Chongqing 12306 reminded passengers to contact the respective ticketing website’s customer service if issues arise when purchasing tickets through unofficial websites or apps.
Original Title: « Two Passengers Purchase ‘Same-Day, Same-Seat’ High-Speed Train Tickets, 12306 Responds »
