Railways: No fare hike during the Spring Festival

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Source: CCTV.com | 01-19-2007 10:29

The Ministry of Railways is promising that passenger ticket prices will not go up this year.

The Spring Festival travel rush is likely to start from 3rd February and will probably last for 40 days. An estimated 156 million passenger journeys will travel during the holiday period and that's 4.3 percent more than the same period last year.

Wang Yongping, spokesman Chinese Ministry of Railway, said, "Increasing ticket prices during the festival has, in previous years, eased the burden of transportation to a certain extent. But in order to let people enjoy the Spring Festival, we have decided not to raise the price."

However, Hao Jinsong, a law school student maintains that the Railway Authority was pressured into not increasing ticket prices. Hao has been on the frontline since last April, questioning the rightfulness of the cost of train travel by filing lawsuits against the Ministry of Railway.

Hao Jinsong said, "We are not servants of the government. Rather, we are masters of our government. We have the right to supervise and question its inappropriate policies by making it serve people's interests better."

The final result of Hoa's litigation won't be clear until after the Spring Festival But he is already claiming victory with the scrapping of this year's ticket price increase.

Li Hai, migrant worker, said, "We warmly welcome this policy. It makes a big difference to low-income people like me."

The decision to cancel the fare hike during the Spring Festival, underlines the power of public involvement. It reflects the increasing awareness of ordinary people, and their ability to work for change. And on the other hand, the move also demonstrates that the government cares about what the public wants.

Editor:Du Xiaodan