China's railway police have started a one-month campaign to
combat train ticket "scalpers" on the recently opened Qinghai-Tibet railway. The service got underway
on July 1.?
Expert teams from the Public Security Bureau of the Chinese
Ministry of Railways have been sent to railway stations in Beijing,
Chengdu, Chongqing, Lanzhou, Xining and Lhasa, a railway official
said.
Local railway police also strengthened their presence at the six
railway stations to crack down on the ticket "scalpers". Fifteen
tickets touts were punished in public on Monday morning in the
square outside Xining Railway Station.
Sources said one of the 15 dealers, surnamed Qian, was adding
800 yuan (US$100) to the cost of a ticket to Lhasa.
While the cost of a basic coach ticket or "hard seat" from
Xining to Lhasa is just 226 yuan (US$28.3) the price of "hard" and
a "soft" sleeping berths are 523 yuan (US$65.5) and 810 yuan
(US$101.4) respectively. The cost of a "hard seat" from Beijing to
Lhasa is 389 yuan (US$48.6). The price of a "hard" and a "soft"
sleeping berth are 813 yuan (US$101.6) and 1262 yuan
(US$157.7).?
The Qinghai-Tibet railway operates services from five cities to
Lhasa. Officials with the Ministry of Railways said that the
campaign against illegal ticket sales would be stepped up and
they'd attempt to schedule extra trains to Lhasa to meet the
demand.
At present anyone buying tickets to Lhasa is limited to a
maximum of three, said the ministry.
(Xinhua News Agency July 25, 2006)