Chinese to get train tickets via smartphones

Chinese to get train tickets via smartphones

 BEIJING, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Ministry¹ of Railways announced Wednesday that it plans to launch a new service that will allow the public to purchase tickets via smartphones by the end of the month.

The service marks the nation's railway authority's latest move to make ticket purchasing more convenient since it opened online ticket-purchasing platform www.12306.cn late last year.

Passengers will be able to book and pay for tickets with smartphones operating on the iOS or Android systems, a statement on the ministry's website said Wednesday.

The statement said a trial period will allow passengers in Shanghai to make reservations for tickets on certain dates during the upcoming 8-day period covering the National Day holiday and the Mid-Autumn Day festival that will start on Sept. 30.

The ministry estimates that a total of 75.4 million trips will be made via train from Sept. 27 to Oct. 7, with 6.86 million trips each day.

According to the statement, trial reservations are aimed at preventing system failures on the ministry's online ticketing platform when great numbers of passengers log on to buy tickets.

Earlier this year, users complained about the computerized system after it crashed due to overwhelming² demand for tickets ahead of the traditional Spring Festival, China's most important festival.

1 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

2 overwhelming   

adj.势不可挡的，压倒的，无法抵抗的

参考例句：

• The flood was overwhelming and the city was soon drowned.洪水来势凶猛，很快这个城市就被淹没了。
• The act was adopted by an overwhelming majority.该法案以压倒多数通过。