介绍:
In today&`&s podcast, we will dicuss how China Railway Corp.’s recently revamped train ticket booking system appears to have created more problems than conveniences for migrant workers in the annual battle for China’s most coveted train tickets.
The tickets migrant workers may not be able to buy are for rail trips to and from home for the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year holidays, which begin February 19.
Buyers can book tickets 60 days in advance via the online system through the website 12306.com. It was designed to help travelers plan their trips much earlier than in the past and more conveniently before the hectic holiday travel period begins.
But the advance period is only 58 days for anyone without Internet access, such as migrant workers living in dormitories, who has to buy at ticket booths or through ticket booking agencies. As a result, anyone buying through the website has a significantly better chance of grabbing a ticket.
You Yun, a middle-aged migrant worker in Guangzhou with a family of five, said that in recent weeks he used much of his free time to hop from one ticket booking agency to another in hopes of finding and buying train tickets. But it was all to no avail.
You said he would continue trying his luck at ticket agencies because he does not know how to use the online ticket service.
The National Statistics Bureau reported some 268 million migrant workers -- nearly half of whom are over age 34 – opt for traditional rail ticket purchasing because they don’t know how to book or pay online.
The dilemma for migrant workers points to a widening digital divide in China. The problem first came to light in 2012 when some migrant workers wrote an open letter to the now-defunct Ministry of Railways about their frustration over the online ticket booking system.
In the letter, the workers said they had already felt nearly tortured by a system that requires queuing in long lines to buy tickets for traveling to hometowns over the New Year’s period. Even more torturous, they said, was the new online system because it denied them even a chance to buy tickets.
Rail authorities had launched the online booking system amid growing disgruntlement over long queues outside railway ticket booths and booking agencies every year.
Under the new booking system, ticket buyers will not be charged a penalty if they cancel an order 15 days in advance. The new booking system also allows ticket buyers to make their payments within 45 minutes of an order.
According to China Central Television, the system is increasingly falling victim to scalpers who take advantage of such windows of time.
The CCTV report said one online scalper used browser plug-ins to book 1,245 train tickets in 10 minutes and then tried to sell as many as possible to real buyers within the 45-minute window. These kinds of scalpers can use the 15-day grace period to cancel orders that fail to sell.
I&`&m Eric Johnson.
春运堪称“人类规模最大的周期性迁徙”。2014年初的“春运”，在短短40天内，中国共计36亿人次通过各种公共交通出行，其中通过铁路出行的旅客共2.66亿人次。
当下年轻人已经习惯用12306网站购买火车票。对网络并不熟悉的农民工，却被数码门槛挡住了回家之路。
游云是一名在广州的打工者。 因为不懂电脑。他只要手里没活儿干，就到各个火车票代售点转悠。代售点秉承秉承排队买票传统，但相比网站预售60天内的票，预售点只预售58天之内的票。
同一天的火车票，网站销售比网点代售提早两天。这意味着，要想在预售点抢到合适时间段的车票，只能靠“捡漏”，或者有人在互联网上退票。
中国2.69亿外来务工人员中，有接近50%的年龄在34岁以上，这一群人缺乏互联网购票经验，不懂网上支付。他们仍然习惯最传统的窗口购票。
会用12306网站已经不够了，至少还得会用抢票软件——倒票“黄牛”已经用这一“神器”，圈定了大批票源。
央视报道称，网络“黄牛”利用抢票软件短短10分钟就抢走了1245张车票，一趟列车车票瞬间被垄断。
由于12306对抢到的票有45分钟支付期，“黄牛”在这个时间段内，寻找买家。一旦寻找到买家，就把这张票放出去，再用真实买家的信息去购买这张票。
除了提前60天售票外，这次春运火车票销售还执行提前15天退票免收手续费。于是“囤票族”伴随“黄牛”同时出现。
根据实名制规定，一张有效身份证件在同一乘车日期、同一车次只能购买一张车票。而对不同天同一车次或同一天不同车次，使用同一身份证号订票是没有限制的。
游云说他的儿子去年成功通过互联网抢到了除夕前回家的车票。今年失败了。
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