It can be a nightmare for many migrant workers, who have to queue for hours to get train tickets before Spring Festivals. Now such tickets may easier to get hold of in Beijing, Wang Yongping, a spokesman for the ministry, revealed last Thursday. The ministry plans to issue group tickets for migrant workers before next year's Spring Festival, which will fall on January 26. The tickets can only be booked by businesses.

For the time being there are no further details as the plan is still under discussion, the Beijing News reported on December 12. Last year, the ministry allowed businesses with more than 100 migrant workers in Guangzhou to apply for group bookings for hard-seat train tickets, CRI reported.

Many migrant workers in the Zhujiang and Yangtze deltas, two major economic zones in China, chose to go back home as early as November, when their factories were hit by the global economic crisis. According to Wang, as the volume of railway passengers will reach its peak in January, the ministry has increased transport capacity in zones where migrant workers are concentrated.

Beijing already issues group train tickets for university students every year before Spring Festival.

(China.org.cn by Wu Jin, December 15, 2008)