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Reduce prices of train tickets

(China Daily)
Updated: 2011-01-25 09:26

Spring Festival, the peak traveling season in China, is about a week away. Since many people cannot book tickets for even hard seats on a train, they are forced to buy tickets that allow them just standing room on a train. But these tickets cost as much as the ones for hard seats.The price of these tickets should be reduced, says an article in Dazhong Daily. Excerpts:

People can manage to travel standing for a few hours on a train, but it is ridiculous to force them to travel in such a state for 24 hours or more, for which they have to pay as much as that for seat.

The Law on Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests stipulates that consumers shall enjoy the right of fair deal.

Compared with the cost of carrying other passengers, the cost of allowing people to travel without a seat is much low.

Since the revenue earned from passengers traveling without a seat is extra income for the railways, they should not be forced to pay the same amount that hard-seat passengers do.

This is not only unfair, but also a violation of passengers' rights.

The pricing mechanism should be adjusted to take care of all groups of passengers, and people's needs and feeling should be given priority.

If unfair clauses are not eliminated from pricing mechanisms, we cannot expect reform in the railways or other fields.