Hundreds of people failed to get their train tickets through the newly launched online train ticketing service after paying the money, Beijing News reported.

The China Railway Customer Service Center responded that it will try to resolve the problem and return the money within 15 working days.

People who paid without getting their tickets have formed groups on QQ, a popular chat program. As many as 400 people have joined the QQ group as of Thursday. The group is still seeing more people joining.

The ticket buyers said their money has been withdrawn through online banks but they failed to get confirmation from the online booking system.

They are afraid that they will not be able to get refunds as they don't have the order number given to those who have succeeded in booking. People also said they are unable to inquire through the booking hotline, 12306, as it is almost always busy.

The China Railway Customer Service Center website suggested that it was due to network problems that the online banks didn't return the payment information to the online booking system. The service center also said the system will be adjusted and the buyers' money will be refunded.

The online railway booking service was launched by the Ministry of Railways on Dec 21, in an effort to ease the burden of buying train tickets during Spring Festival. The real-name system, which is expected to curb rampant ticket scalping, is also to be introduced on Jan 1, 2012.