A pilot scheme to sell railway tickets based on proven IDs began Thursday in south China in a bid to prevent ticket hoarding by scalpers during the upcoming Chinese New Year travel peak.

The first real-name ticket was booked at 7:03 a.m. by phone, confirmed sources with the ticket booking system of Guangzhou Railway Group (GRG), operator of Guangdong Province's railways.

The ticket, priced at 423 yuan (61.96 U.S. dollars), was for a hard berth on a train coded K446 scheduled for Jan. 30, from Guangdong's Shenzhen City to northwestern Xi'an City.

The real-name system was initially adopted on trains between Guangdong and inland provinces of Hunan, Sichuan and Guizhou and Chongqing Municipality, home to millions of migrant workers in Guangdong who will rush back for the Spring Festival holiday.

The Ministry of Railways estimated it would serve 210 million passengers, up 9.5 percent from a year earlier, in the 40-day festival rush period from Jan. 30. This year's Chinese Lunar New Year falls on Feb. 14.

The supply of railway tickets in China often fails to meet demand. Every year during the Spring Festival exodus, many people cannot obtain tickets from authorized outlets and are forced to buy from scalpers.

The new system is aimed at making ticket purchase more convenient and fairer without price hike, as travellers can book 10 days in advance by phone and get tickets from booths in railway stations or ticket agencies.

GRG is expected to transport 24.9 million travellers during the 40-day Spring Festival peak, or 623,000 passengers a day, up 6.8 percent year on year, said Cao Jianguo, GRG's deputy manager.

GRG has increased the hotline capacity of simultaneous bookings from 8,000 to 15,000.

Passengers only need to follow automated voice instructions and dial in necessary information. After the booking is accepted and processed in a computerized database, the automated voice system will issue a booking code. With the code and ID card, passengers can get their tickets in railway stations or ticket agencies.

"This procedure is expected to prevent long queues at railway stations because most of the communication is by phone," said Huang Xin, head of GRG's passenger transport section.

EFFECTS OF THE SYSTEM

Hundreds of people were receiving tickets at Guangzhou Railway Station. Among them was Liu Chao, who recalled queuing in the chilly winter dawn and failing to get a ticket.

Chang Xiaodan, a native of central China's Henan Province working in Guangdong, was carefully checking the ID card number printed on his ticket.

"Although the process has got a bit more complicated, the joy of actually getting the ticket at a fair price is overwhelming," Chang said.

"The whole booking process took me only three minutes. It was very convenient," said Li Jiangang, a migrant worker from Sichuan. Statistics from GRG showed more than 40,000 tickets were booked just between 7 a.m. and 8:16 a.m..

"Buying a train ticket to get home for the Spring Festival had always been a mission. In the past, after days of fruitless efforts, I almost inevitably ended up buying from scalpers," said Meng, who had been doing construction work in Shenzhen for about seven years.

The real-name system has drawn much attention in China. People are waiting to see whether the system can effectively curb ticket hoarding. There are also worries that the newly introduced ID checks may paralyze railway stations because of the heavy workload involved.

"Although the new system requires more procedures and extra efforts, it is beneficial in ensuring equality and fairness, which is the first priority considering the lack of railway transport capacity," said Yue Jinglun, a sociologist with Guangdong's Zhongshan University.

Surveys by sohu.com and tencent.com, two major Chinese Internet portals, showed more than 80 percent of Internet users voted in favor of the system, believing it would be effective in curbing ticket hoarding.

CRACKDOWN ON SCALPERS

On Thursday, China launched a fresh crackdown on ticket reselling ahead of the Spring Festival as millions scrambled for a ticket back home.

A notice released Thursday by the Ministry of Public Security said police were urged to strengthen cooperation with railways departments in cracking down on scalpers, especially in major stations and temporary ticket offices where scalpers might conspire with authorized sellers.

The campaign will also focus on unauthorized ticket outlets hidden in public places such as stores, restaurants and hotels, said the ministry.

The ministry urged railway police to help railway stations to check selling procedures where the real-name system was adopted and warned of fake identity certificates.

In addition, local public security departments were urged to draw up response plans emergencies, including rain and snow disasters that may result in passengers being stranded.

The crackdown will run till March 10.