Trouble with train and bus tickets after Tet

(Baonghean.vn) - Just like before Tet, people's travel needs increased dramatically after Tet holidays, making it extremely difficult to buy train, bus, and plane tickets.

Train tickets, plane tickets:Scarce!

Since the end of November 2011, Vinh Station has planned to sell tickets and train schedules for the period before, during and after the Lunar New Year. From November 18, people have been allowed to register to buy train tickets for the Lunar New Year. However, with a large number of buyers, all train tickets for the Lunar New Year were sold out in a short time. Train tickets for both inbound and outbound journeys until February 3 (January 12) were also sold out. This year, ticket prices during peak times (from January 26 to February 3 is the time when prices increase) increased by 15-30% depending on the type of train, but this did not affect people's travel needs much.

It is known that, compared to previous years, the sale of train tickets for the Year of the Dragon is conducted earlier, this is a way to reduce the risk of congestion and jostling to buy tickets like previous years. Tickets are sold by the name of the passenger, based on the ID card. Customers who buy tickets after taking a list and presenting their ID card will be able to buy tickets. In addition to the main point at the ticket office in the North and the South,Male, there are also 2 ticket agents by route, to both serve the needs of passengers and better control the number of tickets sold. Although there have been measures to combat ticket scalpers, in reality, the tickets in the station have sold out, but black market tickets are still being sold quite a lot, and the prices are much higher than the listed prices at the station.

Mr. Nguyen Viet Hiep, Head of Vinh Station, said: During the peak days after Tet, Vinh Station was allowed by the industry to set up an additional train NA8 Vinh to Hanoi at 9:30 p.m. from the 2nd to the 6th of Tet, consisting of 12 carriages, serving the transportation of nearly 700 passengers. In addition, a pair of 12-car train Vinh to Saigon will run from the 4th of Tet to January 16 (February 7, 2012).

Implementing the motto "train tickets must go directly to passengers who need to travel by train", Vinh Station has mobilized all employees to guide passengers to buy tickets conveniently, and resolutely refused to sell tickets to passengers who queued up to buy tickets twice. However, that is still not enough to meet the extremely high demand of the people. The phenomenon of black market tickets still being sold widely may be due to them being smuggled in from other stations when they cannot sell all the seats in the train, or because ticket brokers, because Vinh Station is under strict control, buy them from other places and sell them at high prices for profit.

Bus tickets - chaotic prices

For passengers traveling by car, it is also very difficult to buy tickets. According to our survey, ticket prices for the above routes have increased compared to normal days. For the Vinh - Hanoi route, the ticket price is 250,000 VND (sleeper bus), an increase of 70,000 VND compared to normal days. Although the ticket price has increased, many passengers still have difficulty finding tickets. At the ticket counter of Vinh bus station, many passengers have to wait and jostle each other to buy tickets for the northern routes. Mr. Pham Tran Kien - a passenger said: "I work in Hanoi, because I did not book tickets in advance, now I have to jostle to buy tickets at such high prices. On normal days, the ticket price to Hanoi and vice versa is only 170,000 VND, but now it has increased to 250,000 VND. The ticket price has increased too much, but I do not know if the bus company will add more passengers."

However, for many passengers, buying tickets at the above prices is still lucky. At Vinh Bus Station, when we went to ask for tickets at the buses in the station, we were "invited" by the bus conductors: "Going to Hanoi by sleeper bus costs 300,000 VND, go now. Or go by seat bus for 250,000 VND".

As for the inter-provincial bus routes to the South, which have the highest number of passengers, Vinh - Hue, Vinh - Da Nang, Vinh - Ho Chi Minh City, the ticket prices are also higher than usual. The ticket price for Vinh - Hue route is 300,000 VND. Vinh - Ho Chi Minh City ticket price is up to 1.2 million VND. On this route, due to the large number of students and business people, even though the ticket prices are high, many passengers still have difficulty buying tickets.

For inter-provincial bus routes, after the Lunar New Year, ticket prices have not shown any signs of cooling down. On the first bus trip of the year from Con Cuong to Vinh, passengers still had to pay 120,000 VND to the bus company (double the normal price).

At Vinh Bus Station, through a survey, ticket prices during Tet have not changed. Thus, those "terrible" prices are due to the bus companies arbitrarily increasing them. Buying tickets at district bus stations, especially in mountainous districts, is unthinkable, because many bus stations only operate haphazardly and do not have ticket sales points.

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Lam - Head of Transport Planning Department of Nghe An Bus Station Joint Stock Company said: "The Company always urges bus operators to operate according to the schedule of the Department of Transport to ensure serving the travel needs of people before, during and after Tet. After Tet, the Company coordinates with transport units to arrange 30 - 40 reserve vehicles operating on intra-provincial routes with good quality to increase service on inter-provincial routes to relieve passengers on peak days".

Not only train tickets, after Tet, plane tickets to the southern provincesMaleare becoming increasingly scarce. Vinh Airport currently has 4 routes of 3 airlines: Vietnam Airlines, Jetstar and Air Mekong with an average of 8 flights per day from Vinh to Hanoi - Ho Chi Minh City, Buon Ma Thuot, Pleiku and vice versa. Although the airlines have made plans to increase flights and ticket prices before and after Tet, they still cannot meet the needs of the people. If during Tet, tickets for routes from Vinh - Ho Chi Minh City and vice versa until January 22, 2012 (ie December 29) were all sold out in economy class, there were only a few flights with business class but the price was up to 4-5 million VND/ticket, then from after Tet to the 15th of January all ticket classes were sold out.

Talking to us, Mr. Luu Vinh Hai - Head of Vietnam Airlines Office in Vinh, said: "Vietnam Airlines has 8 ticket agents in Vinh City. Starting from December 15, 2012, Vietnam Airlines increased prices by 15-20% but still could not meet the travel needs of the people, because the demand for air travel during Tet often increases by 30%-40% compared to normal days.

Therefore, as planned, Vietnam Airlines will add some flights to serve the needs of customers, but with the reality of "head-to-head imbalance" (the outbound flight is full of passengers but the return flight is empty), the airline is not interested in adding flights. This means that if passengers want to go to the South by plane, the only way is to book tickets and wait until after the 15th of January.

Dang Nguyen - Thanh Duy - Huu Vi