国内英语新闻:Real-name train ticket system kicks off in S. China

GUANGZHOU, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- Southern Guangdong Province launched the pilot real-name ticket system Thursday morning amid China's efforts to curb ticket hoarding by scalpers.

China's first real-name ticket was booked at 7:03 a.m. by phone, confirmed the ticket booking system of Guangzhou Railway Group (GRG), operator of the province's railways.

The ticket, priced at 423 yuan (61.96 U.S. dollars), was for a hard berth on a train coded K446 scheduled for Jan. 30, running from south China's Shenzhen City to northwestern Xi'an City.

The real-name system covers tickets of trains scheduled for the 40-day Spring Festival travel peak starting from Jan. 30. These tickets are now available as travellers can book 10 days in advance by phone.

Travellers are able to dial hot lines to book tickets and get them from wickets in railway stations or ticket agencies before midnight the day after the booking.

The traveller only need to follow automated voice instructions and dial in necessary information. After the booking is accepted and processed in a computerized database, the automated voice system will issue a booking code. With the code and ID card at hand, the traveller can get his ticket from wickets in railway stations or ticket agencies.

"This procedure is expected to prevent long queues at the windows because most of the communication is made on phone," said Huang Xin, head of GRG's passenger transport section.

The National Development and Reform Commission forecast some 210 million train trips during the Spring Festival rush, a year-on-year rise of 9.5 percent.

The real-name system has drawn much attention in China. It still needs to be seen whether the system can effectively curb ticket hoarding. There are also worries that the newly introduced ID checks may paralyze railway stations because of the heavy workload involved.

GRG will hold a press conference at around 9:00 a.m. on Thursday to reveal more details on the system.