by Chen Zhe

The Ministry of Railways recently announced a new ID-based booking system to crack down on ticket touts during the annual transportation peak.

The system requires passengers to show their ID cards or other identification when purchasing train tickets at 37 stations in Guangdong, Hunan and Sichuan provinces.

An editorial in the China Daily says that while railway authorities have splashed out on transportation infrastructure projects, they also recognize the importance of investing in software to improve service.

It says that spending lots of money on building railways has become an effective way for the Chinese government to prop up badly needed domestic demand.

However, the current capacity of railways is still far from enough to ensure that everyone can get their train ticket timely during the Spring Festival rush.

The author points out under such circumstances, the railway departments should tackle problems in its current operation to provide better service for customers. The new real-name ticket selling system is expected to root out scalpers to ease the ticket shortage for travelers.

It adds though the new system may cause longer lines at the ticket offices and during the time of boarding for its complicated procedure, railway authorities should not slow their pace to expand the pilot system nationwide. Instead, they should take it as a public call for better railway service that a massive investment in hardware alone cannot provide.