China detains 810 for train ticket scalping

BEIJING - Chinese police busted 256 groups and seized 810 people for scalping ctickets or making and selling fake tickets as of January 2, according to the railway police bureau.

In a statement on Saturday, the bureau said it began a special crackdown on ticket scalping on December 10 and had since confiscated more than 49,000 railway tickets for overpriced reselling as well as over 120,000 counterfeit tickets.

Railway police authorities wanted enough time to look into public tip-offs on possible ticket scalping cases. As many as 397 police units were deployed specially for such investigations.

According to the statement, police also strengthened inspections around ticket booths and monitoring of online ticket selling websites, with special efforts to identify "familiar faces" waiting in line and ban website and bank accounts suspected of being used for repeat purchases.

The crackdown will last for 80 days until the end of February, covering the Spring Festival holiday -- a time for family reunions that see many migrate workers struggle for a ticket home via the usually overloaded railway system.