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Scalpers see profits in Metro tickets
By Zha Minjie |
November 8, 2011, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
TICKET scalpers have extended their "business" to the Metro, targeting luggage-laden out-of-towners who have just arrived in Shanghai.
Yesterday, touts could be seen strolling around Metro entrances at Shanghai Railway Station in Zhabei District, trying to sell tickets to people just off the trains.
Weary travelers were persuaded to pay over the odds for Metro tickets by touts' - often fictitious - tales of horrendous queues downstairs.
Scalpers were selling single tickets that cost them 3 yuan (US47 cents) for 10 yuan.
It's an illegal practice to profiteer from public transport tickets, said local authorities.
"These tricks are unlikely to be spotted by new arrivals in the city," said Gao Honggen, an officer who supervises the rail station's square area.
Metro operator Shanghai Shentong Metro Group said ticket-buying facilities at the station are sufficient.
And during rush hours more ticket windows open, officials added.
The operator has posted ticket prices at Metro entrances at the station in a bid to thwart the scalpers.
However, scalpers have also exploited a grey area in policing, as Metro police say the area outside Metro stations is not their administrative area while the railway police say the tickets being sold are not rail ones.
In any case, when Shanghai Daily was visiting the area, scalpers would simply flee whenever police approached.
Gao said more coordinated and frequent crackdowns are reducing the problem.
Yesterday, touts could be seen strolling around Metro entrances at Shanghai Railway Station in Zhabei District, trying to sell tickets to people just off the trains.
Weary travelers were persuaded to pay over the odds for Metro tickets by touts' - often fictitious - tales of horrendous queues downstairs.
Scalpers were selling single tickets that cost them 3 yuan (US47 cents) for 10 yuan.
It's an illegal practice to profiteer from public transport tickets, said local authorities.
"These tricks are unlikely to be spotted by new arrivals in the city," said Gao Honggen, an officer who supervises the rail station's square area.
Metro operator Shanghai Shentong Metro Group said ticket-buying facilities at the station are sufficient.
And during rush hours more ticket windows open, officials added.
The operator has posted ticket prices at Metro entrances at the station in a bid to thwart the scalpers.
However, scalpers have also exploited a grey area in policing, as Metro police say the area outside Metro stations is not their administrative area while the railway police say the tickets being sold are not rail ones.
In any case, when Shanghai Daily was visiting the area, scalpers would simply flee whenever police approached.
Gao said more coordinated and frequent crackdowns are reducing the problem.
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