Railway industry requests to sell extra seats on occasion of Dinh Dau Tet 2017

Vietnam Railways Corporation has just requested the Ministry of Transport to allow it to convert bunk beds in 4-bed compartments into 3-seat compartments and sell additional seats on passenger trains when passengers need them during the 2017 Lunar New Year.

Organizations directly involved in railway transport business will be responsible for ensuring safety and quality of service for passengers according to current regulations.

The reason why the railway industry has this strange proposal compared to previous years is because Decree No. 46 of the Government dated May 26, 2016 stipulates penalties for the act of selling tickets exceeding the number of seats allowed in a train car, except in cases where a license is granted by a competent authority.

Checking train passenger tickets at Saigon station. (Photo: Manh Linh/VNA)

Vietnam Railways Corporation believes that, in addition to its transport business, it also has the responsibility to perform public service tasks to serve people's travel. During peak holidays and Tet, the railway industry has mobilized the maximum number of available passenger cars to serve passenger transport but still cannot meet people's travel needs.

Over the years, the Corporation has had many solutions during peak transport periods by converting bunk beds in 4-bed compartments into 3-seat compartments, selling additional seats, and still ensuring all aspects of passenger safety.

According to the provisions of Point 1, Article 61, Decree No. 46/2016/ND-CP dated May 26, 2016, stipulating administrative sanctions for violations in the field of road and railway traffic, "a fine of 1-2 million VND shall be imposed on organizations directly engaged in railway transport that sell tickets exceeding the number of seats allowed for carriages, except in cases where a license is granted by a competent authority."

In order to soon implement the ticket sales plan to best serve the people's travel needs during the Dinh Dau Lunar New Year 2017 and peak transportation periods, Vietnam Railways Corporation requests the Ministry of Transport to allow it to implement the ticket sales plan as in previous years to serve the people's travel needs during these peak transportation periods./.

According to Vietnamplus