All aboard for safer, smarter train travel

E-tickets and meal-dispensing cabinets are easing holiday journeys

Although train trips are expected to drop during this year's Spring Festival travel rush because of the recent cluster of COVID-19 cases and the authorities' encouragement for people to stay put, railway operators are still busy trying to provide safe, comfortable quality services for customers.

Spring Festival is the most important period for family reunions in China and it usually leads to huge holiday traffic, and the travel rush is regarded as the world's largest annual human migration. In 2019, nearly 3 billion passenger trips were made during the 40-day travel period, similar to the previous year.

However, this year is different. To curb a resurgence in the spread of the novel coronavirus, people have been urged to avoid unnecessary travel and stay where they live and work to celebrate the festival.

The festival begins on Friday this year. The 40-day travel rush started on Jan 28 and will end on March 8. Early travel statistics show that this year's train trips have already dropped compared with a year ago.

From Jan 28 to 30, the number of passenger trips decreased more than 70 percent year-on-year, according to the China State Railway Group, the national railway operator.

Easy tickets

Electronic ticketing is available in most railway stations across the country, which has increased efficiency and promoted service that doesn't require direct human contact.

After purchasing an e-ticket, travelers can scan their ID cards to board a train without the need for a paper ticket. Foreigners can use the same system to buy tickets, but usually have to present their passports to staff members for verification.

At Nanjing South and Shanghai Hongqiao railway stations, foreign passengers with an e-ticket can scan their passports at a machine to board.

If travelers require paper tickets to have the cost of the trip reimbursed, they can use their ID cards to pick them up at ticket machines or windows.

By the end of last year, e-ticket services were in use in 2,878 railway stations, covering 99 percent of railway passengers, according to the China State Railway Group.

In June, Xi'an Railway Station upgraded its facilities to start accepting and processing e-tickets.

"Since the new facility was introduced, passengers no longer need to pick up paper tickets," said Zhang Yujing from the station's publicity office.

"Time has been saved and the process has been reduced. After purchasing an e-ticket, passengers can use their ID card to board a train and alight at their destination. Under epidemic control measures, the decrease in face-to-face contact makes passengers feel safer and more comfortable."

Zhang said that in the past, after buying an e-ticket, passengers usually had to pick it up at the railway station and then line up to have it verified at a ticket-checking gate. During peak periods, passengers were usually lined up and it took at least five minutes to pass the gate. "Now, it takes a few seconds," she said.

Zhang Lin, who traveled from Xi'an Railway Station to Yulin, Shaanxi province, on Feb 2 said scanning her ID card to board a train is much more convenient.

"In the past, I lined up to pick up paper tickets, lined up to enter the railway station and lined up to pass a security check," she said.