Vinh Station encountered a problem on the first day of selling Tet train tickets.

(Baonghean.vn) - On the morning of December 1, the electronic ticket sales and printing system at ticket booth number 2 at Vinh Station encountered a problem, causing passengers buying Tet tickets to have to wait.

Since morning, many people have come to buy train tickets for Tet.

From 8am to 10am, the electronic ticketing system at gates 2 and 3 operated well. People were quite satisfied when they knew exactly which seats were available on all Tet trains nationwide. Many people only spent about 5 minutes buying train tickets and happily left. Mr. Nguyen Quang Nam from Nam Dan district, who bought train tickets from Ho Chi Minh City to Vinh for his daughter and her husband to return home for Tet, felt quite satisfied because he bought 3 tickets as he wanted at the original price without having to queue from dawn like last year. “On the first day of selling Tet tickets, the staff were enthusiastic, wearing Ao Dai, polite, and smiling at customers. I didn’t have a computer so I had to go directly to buy electronic tickets but I felt quite satisfied. Next time, if I need to go somewhere, I will go to the post office to buy tickets without having to go down to Vinh anymore,” the man from Nam Trung commune, Nam Dan district shared.

According to records, by 10am, about 100 Tet train tickets had been sold at Vinh station. However, on the first morning of selling Tet train tickets, the computer system and ticket printer at ticket booth number 2 had an error, unable to issue tickets, and unable to remember the ticket sales order for customers.

Mr. Dao Ngoc Tu in Le Mao Ward, Vinh City waited at gate number 2 to buy 3 Tet tickets from Hanoi to Vinh for his daughter's family. His request was to have 3 tickets on the first floor, in the same compartment and to arrive in Vinh City in the afternoon because his daughter was pregnant. By 11am, the system problem still could not be resolved, so Mr. Tu was transferred to gate number 3 to buy tickets. However, at this time, the tickets as requested by him had all been booked in advance. Although a bit disappointed, Mr. Tu later had to buy tickets for a different train time for his daughter-in-law's family. "Although we had to wait a bit long at gate number 2, we sympathize with the railway industry, the staff tried to fix the problem. Everyone was happy and enthusiastically guided passengers to buy tickets," said Mr. Tu.

At 10am, ticket booth number 2 had an error. Tickets could not be printed for customers.

To fix the problem, Vinh Station leaders had to contact the units providing technical solutions for the electronic ticketing system. Mr. Nguyen Quoc Hai, Captain of Vinh Station Passenger Transport Team, said that this was just a minor problem due to a system error. Tickets were still being sold, but the system did not record the tickets sold, so the tickets were not valid. Mr. Hai affirmed that this was just a minor problem and did not greatly affect the service to ticket buyers. “We have just started using the electronic ticketing system. We have not yet fully exploited the advantages of this system. I hope people will learn about and use the electronic ticketing system, and enter correct personal information to conveniently buy tickets,” Mr. Hai shared and said that by the end of the afternoon, the problem had not been resolved.

Besides the system problem, on the first day of selling Tet tickets at Vinh station, there were also some minor problems such as buyers registering the wrong code, so when the ticket sales point had to adjust it, some rural people who came to buy tickets often booked according to the lunar calendar, so it took time to change to the solar calendar...

Vinh station's technology staff came in to fix the problem at ticket gate number 2.

According to Vinh Railway Station, although it has just been put into operation, the electronic train ticket purchasing system has been used and booked by many people. Up to this point, trains running on the peak days of Tet have all shown red (tickets have been booked). The railway industry recommends that people who need to travel by train during Tet should register early to get the ticket they want.

Mr. Tran Viet Dung, Deputy Head of Vinh Station, affirmed that with the implementation of electronic ticket sales, this year, there will certainly be no more black market ticket brokers holding Tet tickets like before. People living far from Vinh city can go to post offices to buy Tet train tickets for themselves and their relatives. The railway industry will also reduce the pressure in selling Tet tickets to passengers.

By the end of the afternoon of December 1, about 100 Tet train tickets had been sold. It is expected that the number of people coming to buy Tet tickets will increase in the coming days.

Up to this point, Vietnam Railways Corporation has not yet announced a specific promotion program for Tet tickets. However, due to the decrease in gasoline prices, which has led to a decrease in fares for other modes of transport, the railway industry has also reduced the price of Thong Nhat passenger trains by 17% during the 2015 Tet holiday. This has resulted in a 20% reduction in ticket prices for Tet this year compared to the 2014 Tet holiday. The period of application is from December 16 (the year of Giap Ngo) to January 16 (the year of At Mui).

Nguyen Khoa