On January 6, a noticeable increase of passenger flow in the square of Yichang Railway Station (East).(Photographed by Huang Yuyang, a reporter of the Three Gorges Daily)
This year’s Spring Festival travel rush is to officially kick off on January 10. On January 6, relevant staff of Yichang Railway Station (East) have been interviewed about issues including methods to increase the possibility of successfully getting a train ticket, precautions for train traveling and belongings allowed and not allowed to bring on train.
Students with e-tickets should be verified in advance
Recently, as universities began their winter holiday in droves, many students chose to take home by train. Staffs in the station remind that students with e-tickets must get verification at train station in advance, otherwise they may not be allowed to enter the station by with their ID cards only.
Those students who are eligible for student tickets need to check their discount documents at the designated ticket window or ticket vending machine at the station with their ID cards and student IDs before boarding the train in each preferential year. Though purchasing is still available on the 12306.cn without being verified, one will not be allowed to board the train if they haven’t gone through the verification before boarding, according to the staff of the railway station.
According to the staff, there is a column named “Privilege Qualification Binding” on TVM, under which a student can confirm the preferential qualification and place the chip card, which contains a magnetic chip, in the identification area at the bottom right of the screen. After successful reading, take away the chip card and then place the ID card in the same area. The binding process is done successfully.
Those who fail to make the binding have to ask relevant department of their school to check if the information of the ID card and preferential qualification are well-matched, or they can turn to 12306 customer service. After verification, students then can have their tickets checked with their ID cards and have their concession cards for inspection. Students with non-electronic tickets for ordinary speed trains still need to have their tickets printed and cannot board the train by ID card only.
Preserved meat and fish are allowed while self-heating food are prohibited on the train
In order to ensure a safe travel for passengers, an overall security check on both passengers and their belongings has been carried out in all major railway stations during the check-in, which will not let off a single drop of liquid or anything doubtful. What items are allowed or not allowed to bring with passengers during the travel?
According to the railway staff, passengers can retrieve "the prohibited items on trains" via mobile phone, or refer to the list of prohibited articles posted at the railway station. Items which are labeled as flammables and explosives are dangerous and prohibited on train. “As for the preserved fish, meat and fresh pork and fish, they are allowed on train as long as they are well packed and will not pollute the carriage, release pungent smell, or affect other passengers”, the staff explained.
A special attention for passengers: self-heating foods such as self-heating hot pot and self-heating rice, which are not generally prohibited, are still not allowed for the unexpected flammability and explosion of their own heating bag. In addition, hydrogen balloon, the children’s favorite, also belongs to the flammables and explosives and are strictly prohibited to carry on the train.
Waitlist function tends to increase the possibility of successful ticket purchasing
With the peak of Spring Festival ticket sales gone, passengers failing to get their train tickets could turn to the waitlist function of 12306.cn or the app, reminded the railway department. Right after the purchase information are registered on the platform and the advance purchase fund are paid, the system will automatically help purchase if there are any tickets available.
Each passenger can reserve four tickets on two adjacent dates, which overshadows normal ticket snatching software both in the speed and success rate, according to the staff.
Starting from the travel rush, the success rate of waitlisted tickets per day has exceeded 70%, and some even hit over 80%, according to the recent data released by the railway department.
In addition, it is expected to get the missing tickets in following situations. 30 minutes after the opening, during which the tickets will be withdrawn for sale if any passenger fails to pay in time; 15 days before the opening for it is a refund peak; 48 hours and 24 hours before the opening, during which period the system will release some remaining tickets. And 22:00 to 23:00 is also a refund peak. Besides, there are a certain proportion of allocated tickets available for every station. If remained, they will be sold again one day before the trip. (Reporter Liu Jingjing of the Three Gorges Daily&Correspondent Zhao Haijing of the Three Gorges Daily)