Ticket scam targets spring break uni students
By Cao Desheng (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-01-14 05:28

The 40-day-long traditional Spring Festival travel season started this weekend and ends on February 22.

An estimated 144 million journeys will be made on trains, averaging 3.6 million per day, Vice-Minister of Railways Hu Yadong said at a press conference on Friday.

An additional 301 trains will be in operation during the period, the most in recent years, Hu said.

The Ministry of Railways predicted that the travel deluge is expected to hit peaks on January 18-20, when a mix of college students and migrant workers begin their trips home.

The annual exodus has begun early in many major cities, where officials have organized special, low-priced trains to take migrant workers and students out of town in advance of the expected peak.

The Shanghai Railway Bureau announced last week it had arranged additional passenger trains to handle the passenger surge.

Guangzhou Railway Group launched a telephone ticket booking system on Friday to ease the heavy pressure on railway stations.