Train Ticket Scalping: The Game Between 12306 and Third-Party Platforms

Train Ticket Scalping: The Game Between 12306 and Third-Party PlatformsIn China, the scramble for train tickets is a perennial hot topic. While 12306, the official ticketing platform, struggles to meet the demands of all travelers, the rise of third-party platforms has further complicated this ticketing battle

Train Ticket Scalping: The Game Between 12306 and Third-Party Platforms

In China, the scramble for train tickets is a perennial hot topic. While 12306, the official ticketing platform, struggles to meet the demands of all travelers, the rise of third-party platforms has further complicated this ticketing battle. 12306 explicitly states it has never authorized third-party platforms to sell tickets. However, the reality is that these platforms have established a presence in the ticket-grabbing market through clever strategies involving "authorization" and "proxy purchasing."

First, it's crucial to understand that these third-party platforms don't directly sell tickets. Instead, they act as "proxies" by leveraging user authorization and their technical advantages to help users secure tickets. The ticket money ultimately flows into 12306's account, and the tickets are issued directly by the China Railway Corporation. Although third-party platforms connect with 12306 through authorization, the original data originates from 12306, and ticketing is handled by 12306.

So why does the "waitlist" phenomenon appear immediately after tickets are released? This is closely related to the ticket-grabbing mechanisms of third-party platforms.

Firstly, these platforms rely on independently developed ticket-grabbing systems. They pre-enter user information and utilize high-speed networks to achieve millisecond-level order submission. This speed far surpasses the rate at which ordinary users can click "Confirm" on the 12306 website. Consequently, ordinary users often find themselves at a significant disadvantage when competing against robots and these systems.

Secondly, when tickets are first released, the number of short-distance tickets is limited. Typically, full-journey tickets are released first, with short-distance tickets gradually made available only after the full-journey tickets remain unsold. If all tickets were released at once, long-distance passengers would struggle to secure tickets. Additionally, the China Railway Corporation prioritizes certain groups during ticket release, such as military personnel and students.

On the other hand, when 12306 shows no available tickets, why can third-party platforms still procure tickets? This is because these platforms allow for advance reservation and offer premium ticket-grabbing services with additional fees. Users who purchase tickets through these platforms pay a premium for priority access, essentially a disguised form of scalping. While these platforms advertise service fees, they are actually profiting from scalping. This phenomenon has become an open secret, yet effective government regulation is still lacking.

Although a consensus has emerged to neither oppose nor abolish third-party ticket-grabbing, the fact that these platforms boast higher ticket-grabbing success rates than 12306's internal waitlist system has exacerbated difficulties for ordinary users (who are unwilling to pay a premium).

In conclusion, the current train ticket grabbing phenomenon exposes 12306's shortcomings in service and management, but it's unfair to place excessive blame on the China Railway Corporation. After all, the Corporation manages a vast national railway network and needs to monitor and calculate passenger flow, available seats, and seat allocation in real time at each station. This is an enormous task.

What truly deserves condemnation are the opportunistic actions of third-party platforms driven by profit. They exploit their technical advantages and operate in a gray area, intensifying the chaos of ticket-grabbing and causing significant inconvenience for ordinary users.

This train ticket grabbing battle is both a competition of technology and efficiency, as well as a game of fairness and profit. Ensuring fair and convenient ticket purchase for all passengers requires collaborative efforts from relevant departments and platforms. This involves improving systems, enhancing efficiency, and ultimately achieving a fair and transparent ticketing environment.

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