The news is about the challenges of securing train tickets leading up to the New Year, sparked by claims that the railway prioritizes long-distance tickets over short-distance ones.
Approaching the New Year, grabbing train tickets has become a top priority for many people. Recently, a netizen claimed online that the reason for not being able to secure tickets is because the railway only releases long-distance tickets, not short-distance ones. Is this true?
A netizen shared a screenshot showing several available trains from Shanghai Hongqiao to Changsha on February 5, while all tickets from Hangzhou to Changsha were sold out on the same day. Hangzhou is an intermediate station on the route from Shanghai to Changsha.
Upon checking 12306, on February 9, there are still several trains with available tickets from Shanghai to Changsha, such as G4937/G4063. However, if starting from the intermediate station Hangzhou East on these routes, tickets to Changsha are shown as sold out.
So, is it true that during the Spring Festival travel period, only long-distance tickets are released, and not short-distance ones?
A 12306 staff member explained, ‘During the Spring Festival, summer vacation, weekends, and holidays, the railway department prioritizes meeting the needs of long-distance passengers traveling from the originating station to the destination station.’
They mentioned that the travel demand during the Spring Festival is concentrated, and with limited available options for long-distance travelers, purchasing opportunities are scarce. Therefore, the railway prioritizes ensuring the needs of long-distance passengers are met, maximizing the utilization of transport resources.
Despite this priority, the staff member clarified, ‘The railway also takes into account the needs of short-distance passengers. When there is a sufficient supply of long-distance tickets, quotas are dynamically adjusted and released based on changing demands. Some quotas are automatically allocated to stations along the route to ensure the travel needs of short-distance passengers are met.
