The 12306 website has launched a reservation section for train tickets during the Spring Festival travel rush. How do students and migrant workers experience this feature?
The 12306 mobile app recently launched ticket reservation services for students and migrant workers, allowing eligible travelers to book round-trip tickets for the 2025 Spring Festival travel period through a dedicated section. How is the user experience of this new service? Reporters from Xinhua News Agency interviewed students and migrant workers in various locations.
Sun Xihai, a delivery worker frequently operating in Haidian District, Beijing, discovered the new ticket reservation feature on his phone during a break. He told reporters, “In the past, I had to set an alarm to grab tickets and worried about not getting them. This time, I directly reserved a ticket for train K1453 back to Xingan, Jiangxi, on January 20 next year. I will receive a text message notification 16 days before departure. If the reservation is unsuccessful, I can still buy tickets according to the normal advance sale period.”
Cai Huaimo, a resident of Pengshui Miao and Tujia Autonomous County in Chongqing, helped his mother, who works in Jinhua, Zhejiang Province, reserve a ticket back to Chongqing for January 6, 2025. “My mother is not familiar with using a smartphone, so I reserved it for her in advance to give her peace of mind,” Cai said.
According to a relevant official from the 12306 Science and Technology Innovation Center, from December 15, 2024, to February 7, 2025, migrant workers who have passed real-name verification can reserve tickets for trains running from December 31, 2024, to February 23, 2025, through the “Migrant Workers Spring Festival Ticket Reservation Service” section of the 12306 app. To ensure the smooth operation of the reservation service, the 12306 team prepared in advance, optimizing resource allocation and making emergency response preparations to ensure a smooth user experience.
At ticket windows in some train stations, reporters observed migrant workers reserving tickets with the assistance of station staff. “Each order can add up to five combinations of ‘train number + seat type’ for one travel date, and a single account can submit up to three orders simultaneously.” At Xiamen Railway Station, ticket seller Luo Fang guided Huang Zhenglin, a worker from Chongqing, on how to reserve tickets on his phone.
After successfully submitting multiple ticket reservation combinations from Xiamen to Chongqing North, Luo reminded him, “The system will send you a text message on the 17th to notify you whether your reservation was successful. If it is, remember to complete the payment before 11 PM on the 17th; only successful payment counts as actually buying the ticket.”
“The migrant worker group is quite broad, and the railway department mainly uses 12306 big data to arrange certain train numbers and seat types for concentrated travel by migrant workers, providing reservation services without requiring proof of eligibility. Migrant workers who have passed real-name verification can use the reservation service as needed, effectively adding another option for purchasing tickets,” said a relevant official from the 12306 Science and Technology Innovation Center.
As the winter break approaches for universities, many students are also planning their return trips and using the 12306 app to reserve tickets. For students, the 12306 app has launched a “Student Ticket Reservation Special Service” section. From December 12, 2024, to February 12, 2025, eligible student travelers can reserve tickets for trains running from December 28, 2024, to February 28, 2025.
“I no longer have to rush to grab tickets at specific times, and it reduces the hassle of trying to quickly buy tickets through third-party platforms or relying on friends for help,” said Yang Puyu, a senior at Central University of Finance and Economics. She has submitted three pending reservation orders for her trip back to Luohe, Henan, adding more assurance to her journey home.
In Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, Zhu Yanwu, a freshman at Hohai University, reserved a high-speed train ticket back to Lianyungang for January 17, 2025, early on the 16th. “In the past, I had to grab tickets at specific times during holidays, but now I can reserve them, and the experience is much better,” Zhu said.
While enjoying the convenience of reservations, some migrant workers and students expressed additional hopes: “Currently, migrant workers can only reserve certain train numbers; I hope more options will be available in the future.” “I hope the system can be further optimized to improve the success rate of reservations and accurately match ticket resources for travelers.”
During the Spring Festival travel period, especially during peak times, issues still exist regarding the supply and demand imbalance for train tickets due to the concentrated and uneven flow of passengers. According to a relevant official from the Passenger Transport Department of China National Railway Group Co., Ltd., the railway department will analyze the reservation distribution situation in a timely manner to provide references for reasonable capacity allocation and better meet travelers’ needs. In addition to launching the student and migrant worker ticket reservation service, the railway department will also coordinate with enterprises and local human resources departments to operate special trains for migrant workers during the Spring Festival, providing convenience for key groups returning home or to work.
