Passengers queuing to check tickets in Beijing West Railway Station on December 11, 2008.

Train tickets for migrant workers heading home for the Lunar New Year holiday will be sold from Jan. 2 to 20 in Beijing, said the Ministry of Railways on December 15, 2008. The ministry will penalize any company found to be booking group tickets for migrant workers for the purpose of speculative resale.

The ministry revealed details of the spring festival tickets plan Monday. From Jan. 1 to 8, railway stations will centralize the handling of student return tickets and special counters will be set up for them from Jan. 9 to 20 in Beijing.

For migrant workers, special counters will be set up both in Beijing Railway Station and Beijing West Railway Station from Jan. 2 to 20.

Return tickets are not only available from railway stations in Beijing, they can also be bought in Guangzhou Railway Station, Guangzhou East Railway Station, Guangzhou North Railway Station, Shenzhen Railway Station, Dongwan East Railway Station, Foshan Railway Station, Huizhou Railway Station and Shantou Railway Station.

The ministry has called on nationwide railway bureaus and railway stations to co-ordinate migrant worker trains for all those traveling in the same direction. Information about train numbers, timetables and the train stations served by return tickets will be published in the media.

Companies need to file a written application to book group tickets for migrant workers, according to the ministry. Applicants must provide their business license, employee certification from the local employment department, and travelers' IDs.

Railway police will make the monitoring of tickets a top priority. Companies will be disqualified from the booking of group tickets for migrant workers if they are found to be involved in speculative reselling of tickets.

(China.org.cn by Wu Huanshu, December 18, 2008)