12306 standby success rate reaches 75%! How to increase it? China Railway Group responds

According to China National Railway Group Co., Ltd., this year's railway transportation during the Mid Autumn Festival and National Day Golden Week starts on September 27th and ends on October 8th, lasting for 12 days. The national railway is expected to send 190 million passengers.

On September 13th, Railway 12306 began selling train tickets for the Mid Autumn Festival and National Day Golden Week.

How could it be so difficult to grab tickets!

On September 14th, as the Mid Autumn Festival holiday approaches, many netizens have joined the rush to buy train tickets for September 28th in advance.

In the rush purchase process, some netizens roast that the system showed that there were enough tickets left, but they still had to queue up to buy, "711 people queued up in front"; Some netizens also question whether third-party software grabbing tickets has taken up a "pit" for ordinary users.

Regarding this, 12306 customer service stated that the reason for the sufficient remaining tickets and the need to queue up is due to too many users placing orders at the same time. The ticket sales time for 12306 is fixed and will not be sold in advance for third-party software.

For users who have not purchased tickets, customer service stated that it is indeed more difficult to grab tickets this year compared to previous years. It is recommended to join the waiting list immediately and wait for other users to change or refund their tickets.

In addition, in the case of a large number of passengers, high-speed trains may also experience a situation where 8 carriages are changed to 12 carriages, and waiting tickets can be purchased more quickly.

12306 standby ticket purchase success rate reaches 75%

Regarding the Mid Autumn Festival and National Day holidays, China Railway Group has responded to the question of whether some popular train tickets will have instant flashes.

Is there a guarantee of transportation capacity during peak holiday passenger flow?

Answer: In response to the peak passenger flow during this year's Mid Autumn Festival and National Day holidays, the railway department will scientifically allocate transportation resources and increase capacity investment. The national railway will implement a peak operating chart, and the daily average passenger seating capacity is expected to increase by 18.5% compared to the same period in 2019. The main measures taken are as follows: firstly, to extend the transportation period during the Golden Week, reaching 12 days before and after, and the transportation period exceeding the previous Golden Week. The second is to add 320 direct passenger trains across the railway bureau group company, including 214 high-speed trains and 106 ordinary speed passenger trains. The third approach is to adopt multiple operation of high-speed trains and the addition of carriages for ordinary speed passenger trains, increasing passenger seats in popular directions. The directions of entering Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou should be operated at full axle or formation in principle. Fourthly, each railway bureau group company flexibly increases the number of passenger trains within its management based on the ticket sales data of Railway 12306.

How can the railway department respond to sudden large passenger flows?

Answer: The railway department has reserved hot standby EMUs, regular speed passenger trains, and crew members at major national hub nodes, with a quantity of no less than the May Day holiday. In case of sudden passenger flow, they can be put into operation at any time to meet the travel needs of passengers.

3. On what day is the expected peak for ticket sales? Can Railway 12306 cope with excessive traffic?

Answer: In response to the peak ticket sales during this year's Mid Autumn Festival and National Day Golden Week, the technical team has made various technical preparations in advance, strengthened ticket sales monitoring and routine inspections, organized technical backbone forces to concentrate on duty, and ensured the safe and stable operation of the ticket sales system.

The peak ticket sales for this year's Mid Autumn Festival and National Day Golden Week are expected to occur on September 15th, when tickets for the first day of the holiday on September 29th will be sold. To cope with the high traffic during the peak ticketing period, the 12306 technical team has taken targeted preparatory measures, focusing on public cloud applications, network bandwidth expansion, and preventing malicious ticket grabbing, to ensure the stable and efficient operation of the ticketing system.

4. During the Mid Autumn Festival and National Day holidays, will some popular train tickets experience "instant flashes"? Why did this situation occur?

Answer: During the Golden Week, there is a high demand for passenger travel, resulting in tight transportation capacity in certain areas and time periods. Especially on some popular routes, some trains with more suitable departure and destination times and shorter travel times are the preferred travel options for many passengers. When these train tickets are put on sale, due to their high attention from passengers, they will use various ticketing channels such as 12306 online ticketing, mobile apps, and station windows to quickly "grab tickets", which may lead to "instant light" phenomenon.

Why does the ticketing system for the same train 12306 display full distance and long-distance tickets, but not half distance and short distance tickets?

Answer: The railway department will prioritize meeting the needs of long-distance passengers traveling from the origin station to the destination station by increasing the ticket quota for long-distance trains, in order to maximize the utilization of transportation resources. Of course, it also takes into account the needs of short distance passengers. When there are sufficient long-distance tickets, the ticket allocation will be dynamically adjusted according to changes in passenger flow demand, and part of the ticket will be automatically transferred to various stations along the way in different time periods to meet the needs of short distance passengers for ticket purchases.

How is the operation of the standby ticket purchasing function for railway 12306? How can we increase the chances of successful candidate ticket purchases?

Answer: The standby ticketing function of Railway 12306 operates stably, with a success rate of over 75% for standby redemption. Passengers can increase the success rate of waiting orders by submitting multiple combinations of dates, train numbers, and seat types to extend the waiting redemption time.

How is the ticket release time for railway 12306 arranged?

Answer: The pre-sale period for train tickets is 15 days, but the starting time for each station varies. For example, Beijing West Station and Nanjing South Station are 8:00, Guangzhou South Station is 10:00, and Shanghai Hongqiao Station is 13:30. Passengers can use the "Starting Time" query function in the official "Railway 12306" app to find the starting time of a specified station.

How is the online selection function of the railway 12306 pilot running? How to ensure that the elderly receive priority allocation of lower bunks?

Answer: In June of this year, 12306 began trial implementation of online shop selection services, which have now covered 230 passenger trains and are running well. The online berth selection service provides options for soft sleeper, hard sleeper, and high-speed train soft sleeper, first class sleeper, second class sleeper, and other berth types, covering different levels of needs. Meanwhile, Railway 12306 still insists on prioritizing the allocation of lower berths for key passengers aged 60 and above.

What should passengers do when they cannot buy a direct ticket during peak passenger flow?

Answer: If direct tickets cannot be purchased during peak passenger flow, passengers can choose to purchase connecting tickets and meet their travel needs through segmented rides. Railway 12306 will intelligently recommend transfer plans with available tickets for passengers to choose from based on their travel needs and availability. In order to facilitate the transfer of passengers, the railway department has set up convenient channels for intermediate transfer at 100 major stations and arranged station staff to provide guidance services. Passengers can enter the waiting room without leaving the station, effectively reducing the time for intermediate transfer.

Is there any risk in purchasing tickets through third-party websites?

Answer: Railway 12306 has never authorized any third-party platform to sell train tickets. Third party platforms may retain user information during the ticketing process, which not only poses traps such as surcharges and bundled sales services, but also poses a risk of personal information leakage. Passengers are advised to purchase tickets through official railway channels and check out the official website and "Railway 12306" app.

11. How will the railway department handle some uncivilized behaviors on board the train?

Answer: Railways are a popular means of transportation that requires passengers to work together to maintain a civilized, orderly, warm and comfortable travel environment. However, there are also individual passengers who engage in uncivilized behavior, such as smoking, dominating seats, and making loud noises during the operation of high-speed trains, which seriously affects the riding experience of other passengers. Some even endanger the safe operation of the train and violate laws and regulations. During the Mid Autumn Festival and National Day Golden Week holidays, we will increase publicity and guidance through station bus broadcasting videos, actively promote civilized travel, and strive to create a good travel environment. For some uncivilized behaviors, we will promptly dissuade them. For particularly serious cases, we will include them in the dishonesty list of the railway credit reporting system in accordance with relevant regulations.

Zhongxin Jingwei Comprehensive from China Railway, CCTV, etc