Free plane home for migrant who complained
Source: Xinhua |
January 7, 2012, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A Chinese migrant worker has been given a free flight home on Thursday after he complained that new train-ticketing regulations were hampering the homecoming of migrant workers during the Spring Festival travel rush.
Huang Qinghong, a truck driver in the eastern city of Wenzhou, slammed the Ministry of Railways in an open letter, complaining that migrant workers have been robbed of their "ticket rights" now that customers can book tickets online or by phone. "With the majority of tickets sold to online buyers, there were few left for purchase from ticket booths. But we migrant workers have no idea about how to use the Internet, and the phone-reservation system is too complicated for us," Huang wrote in the letter.
The Wenzhou Metropolitan Daily not only published Huang's letter but also offered him the free plane ticket, allowing him to fly home to Chongqing City tomorrow.
"We felt Huang's pain of being slowed down on his journey home, and we wanted to help him," Xue Yuan, the newspaper's editor-in-chief, said yesterday. Xue said his colleagues decided to buy Huang a plane ticket because they knew it would be difficult to buy a train ticket.
"I'm astonished that I have been given a plane ticket worth 1,610 yuan (US$255)," Huang said, adding that he's never traveled by plane.
Huang hopes railway authorities can allow ticket booths to have the same pre-sale period as the online and phone-booking systems, saying the ticketing regulations offer online buyers greater chances to get train tickets. Passengers in Wenzhou can buy tickets at booths five days ahead of departure, while online buyers can reserve tickets 12 days ahead.
Huang Qinghong, a truck driver in the eastern city of Wenzhou, slammed the Ministry of Railways in an open letter, complaining that migrant workers have been robbed of their "ticket rights" now that customers can book tickets online or by phone. "With the majority of tickets sold to online buyers, there were few left for purchase from ticket booths. But we migrant workers have no idea about how to use the Internet, and the phone-reservation system is too complicated for us," Huang wrote in the letter.
The Wenzhou Metropolitan Daily not only published Huang's letter but also offered him the free plane ticket, allowing him to fly home to Chongqing City tomorrow.
"We felt Huang's pain of being slowed down on his journey home, and we wanted to help him," Xue Yuan, the newspaper's editor-in-chief, said yesterday. Xue said his colleagues decided to buy Huang a plane ticket because they knew it would be difficult to buy a train ticket.
"I'm astonished that I have been given a plane ticket worth 1,610 yuan (US$255)," Huang said, adding that he's never traveled by plane.
Huang hopes railway authorities can allow ticket booths to have the same pre-sale period as the online and phone-booking systems, saying the ticketing regulations offer online buyers greater chances to get train tickets. Passengers in Wenzhou can buy tickets at booths five days ahead of departure, while online buyers can reserve tickets 12 days ahead.
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