国内英语新闻:Chinese train ticket website gets 1 bln clicks daily amid complaints

BEIJING, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- China's official website for booking train tickets received a daily average of more than 1 billion hits during the first week of January, according to a railway official.

Hu Yadong, vice minister of railways, said Sunday that the online ticket sales platform has provided consumers with a convenient way to buy tickets. He also addressed complaints about the fairness of the sales process.

"Train tickets sold online or by telephone have topped 2 million daily, meaning that around one-third of passengers don't have to wait in line at train stations for several hours to get a ticket," Hu said.

However, many Chinese have expressed dissatisfaction with the website, with some people unable to get train tickets home for this year's Spring Festival holiday, a major holiday in China.

Several customers posted their complaints on popular microblogging website weibo.com, stating that the booking site often failed due to "too many visits at the same time."

The Spring Festival holiday is always a difficult time for China's public transportation authorities. A total of 3.16 billion passenger trips are expected during the holiday, up 9.1 percent from a year earlier, of which 235 million trips will be made via the country's railways, up 6.1 percent year-on-year, said Hu.

This year's transport rush in the Spring Festival Season started on Sunday and will end on Feb. 16, according to the Ministry of Railways.