I tried four times in line but failed to buy a single ticket. "The reason I want to buy a train ticket home is that the train ticket only costs 190 yuan, while the bus ticket costs nearly 600 yuan, hundreds of yuan more expensive. I want to save this money to buy my daughter something nice because I don't take good care of her usually," Huang Qinghong said. Since he was worried about not being able to buy tickets during the Spring Festival travel rush, he asked his wife to go home one month ahead of time and decided to stay behind to earn more money. In order to save money, Huang Qinghong goes home every other year. Last year, he spent the Spring Festival alone in Wenzhou and felt very lonely. He could only talk to his parents and daughter on the phone. Therefore, this year he must find a way to go home no matter what. He has been working outside for many years since he got married, and has only seen his daughter three times. "My daughter is six years old now. I haven't seen her for a long time. I don't know if she has grown taller or how many words she has learned," Huang Qinghong murmured.
"This year is the fourth time I've come to the train station to buy tickets, but I still haven't bought any. The staff said that the tickets available online and by phone are released several days earlier. Once the tickets are released, they are all snapped up online. We are migrant workers, not white-collar workers. How can we use online banking? Isn't this obvious?"
The initial reason for writing this letter was due to his experience of buying tickets this year. "This year, when we went to queue up to buy tickets, we were very happy because the queue was shorter than in previous years. In the past, there were always more than a hundred people queuing up each time, and it would take several hours to get to the front. But this time, there were fewer than dozens of people, and we reached the front in less than half an hour," Huang Qinghong said. However, he was faced with disappointment each time. Each time he asked the window staff if there were any tickets to Chongqing, the staff would tell him that they were sold out. When he asked for the reason, the staff said that the tickets available online and by phone were released several days earlier and were all booked up once they were released. The number of tickets available at the window was very limited.
Most interviewees did not know about "online ticket purchasing."
Group tickets have a limit on the number of people, making it difficult for small and medium-sized enterprises.
In fact, Huang Qinghong and his more than 40 co-workers had also attempted online ticket purchasing, but none of them knew how to operate a computer. They then sought help with telephone ticket purchasing, but ultimately, only one person managed to buy a ticket. "Apparently, online and telephone ticket purchasing is more suitable for those who sit in offices all day. We simply don't have the time to deal with this. However, online and telephone ticketing gives priority to others, depriving us of our basic right to purchase tickets," Huang Qinghong expressed.
He also wrote in the letter that none of the more than 40 co-workers in the factory knew how to use computers. Out of sympathy, the boss helped them buy tickets online, but after trying for a long time, the boss couldn't manage it either. Either the website couldn't be accessed, or there were no tickets available. The boss said that even if there were tickets, online banking would need to be activated. Thus, they switched to telephone ticket booking. All 40-plus people took turns calling whenever they had free time. In the end, only one person managed to buy a ticket to Jiangxi after numerous attempts.
"Online and telephone ticket purchasing can release tickets 12 days in advance, while railway ticket outlets release tickets 10 days in advance. Therefore, online and telephone ticket purchasing has certain advantages over traditional ticket purchasing. Some migrant workers may not be familiar with online and telephone ticket purchasing, which puts them at a relative disadvantage. However, before the ticket sales, we also considered the group of migrant workers. Therefore, from December 15th to 30th, 2011, any outlet within the jurisdiction of the Shanghai Railway Bureau, including Wenzhou, opened a special channel for group ticket purchases for migrant workers. However, apart from this, there are no other special measures for migrant workers," a relevant person from the Shanghai Railway Bureau stated.
Huang Qinghong admitted that he wrote the letter and submitted it to the Wenzhou Metropolis Daily. "Because I thought only if the leaders of the Ministry of Railways see this letter will it have any effect. But I am just an ordinary citizen, so I can hardly meet them, nor do I know where to send it. Later, I thought of the media and wanted the newspaper to reflect these problems I encountered."
"We also considered group ticket purchases, but our factory has less than 50 workers. Group tickets are mainly aimed at large factories with hundreds of people, and they wouldn't let us handle it." Huang Qinghong introduced that there are many small and medium-sized enterprises in Wenzhou. Many factories have only dozens of people, and like them, they basically cannot enjoy the benefits of group ticket purchases. Now with the introduction of online and telephone ticket purchasing, it will become increasingly difficult for them to buy train tickets.
After the letter was published, it immediately sparked heated discussions online. Some netizens commented, "Online and telephone ticket sales benefit white-collar workers but harm migrant workers. With limited transportation capacity, fairness should still be maintained. Don't let migrant workers fail to return home or go back to work." Other netizens expressed, "When they first mentioned online ticket sales, my first reaction was excitement because I could book tickets without going to the station. Immediately afterward, I thought about what the migrant worker uncles would do. Although some might go to internet cafes to play or use computers, most probably wouldn't... Then I thought, Taobao has been operating for many years with mature technology, but when everyone rushes to buy, it still crashes. So this nationwide rush for train tickets would be even harder."
Wenzhou Migrant Worker Writes to the Ministry of Railways: "Online Ticket Purchasing Is Unfair to Us"
Some migrant workers are unaware of "online ticket purchasing." Before, they could buy tickets by queuing up physically, but now with online and telephone ticket releases being two days earlier, even standing at the front of the line doesn't guarantee a ticket.
Relevant theme articles: Migrant Workers Write to the Ministry of Railways: Online Ticket Purchasing Is Unfair to Us