This year's 12306 is very different! New features you must know when going home for the Spring Festival

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As the New Year's Day bells ring, the annual Spring Festival travel rush begins again. Unlike previous years, this year's Spring Festival travel rush is the first major test after the domestic epidemic has been effectively controlled, and the railway department has also worked hard for this. In particular, many different services have been added to 12306. Please read the editor's introduction below.

1. Ticket sales have been advanced

As the only website in the world that is "official" at night, the ticket service hours of 12306 have always been the focus of complaints. The good news is that starting this year, the online ticket sales hours of 12306 have been advanced from 6:00-23:30 every day to 5:00-23:30. Although it is still not open all the time, this one hour earlier should help many friends during the special period of Spring Festival travel.

12306 "working time" has been advanced

2. Synchronize your mobile phone with the station screen

The large screen at the station has a special meaning for everyone who takes the train. Specifically, it has the following functions: Where to wait for the train? When will the ticket be checked? Is your train delayed? And...is there any need to rush to the station. In the new version of 12306, the large screen at the station can also be viewed on your mobile phone simultaneously. The entire interface is divided into two major items: "Departure" and "Arrival", which correspond to "Entry Information (Waiting Room/Ticket Gate/Delay Time/Current Status)" and "Exit Information (Exit Gate/Delay Time/Current Status)". Compared with the traditional station large screen, the "mobile phone large screen" is not only more convenient, but also supports manual search for train numbers and train number attention. The followed train numbers will be automatically fixed at the top of the "large screen" for quick and easy access.

Browse.

Mobile phones can also sync with the station's large screen

You can "pin" the train number you are interested in to the large screen homepage

3. Check what your train looks like

Do you want to know what the train you are going to take looks like? The new version of 12306 provides such a function. Click on the "Station Screen", select a train, and then click the train number in front of the list. At this time, the system will automatically pop up an itinerary for the train. The model diagram at the bottom is particularly eye-catching. In addition to identifying the model used for the train, it also specifically marks whether the car contains WI-FI, the maximum speed, the number of passengers, the number of combined carriages, and other information. Especially the location of the dining car is very convenient for people traveling long distances.

Finally I can see what the train I'm riding looks like

4. Elderly people over 60 years old are given priority in lower berths

In the past, sleeper berth tickets were randomly issued, which resulted in many elderly people being unable to successfully purchase lower berth tickets (there is also a saying that lower berth tickets are issued first at the window). During this Spring Festival travel season, 12306 has added a humanized function. When it is detected that the passenger is over 60 years old, the lower berth ticket will be given priority if there are remaining tickets. This is really not too friendly to many elderly passengers!

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The system will give priority to lower berth tickets for people over 60 years old

5. Quiet cabin

In the past, when I took the train, I was always disturbed by people who were talking loudly on the phone or playing music on their mobile phones the whole time, which made me exhausted. Starting this year, some high-speed rail lines began to pilot the "quiet car". The so-called quiet car means that you are not allowed to use the speaker of your mobile phone when riding in this car, and the phone must be set to silent or vibrate mode. If you need to make a call or talk with fellow passengers, you have to leave the "quiet car". I have to say that this is really a good remedy for many people who suffer from "train fatigue syndrome". At present, the "quiet car" is only piloted on some high-speed rail lines in Beijing-Shanghai and Chengdu-Chongqing. If you find that the train you are riding on 12306 is marked with the word "quiet", you can check "Please give me priority in allocating seats in the 'quiet car'" when placing an order, so that 12306 will give you priority in allocating a "quiet car".

"Silent carriages" being tested on some high-speed rail lines

6. Ticket sales times vary at different stations! You need to check

Although there is a fixed sales period for Spring Festival train tickets, the actual start time of sales varies at each station. When you click "More" → "Travel Guide" on the 12306 homepage, you can see an item called "Start Time of Sales". Click it to check the earliest time of ticket sales for the current station and surrounding stations. This allows you to more accurately choose the time to grab tickets based on the station you are departing from.

Starting time for sale at each station

7. Tickets with a fixed number of times/commuter tickets

In the past, trains were used for long-distance travel, but with the rise of satellite cities in recent years and the opening of intercity railways, more and more young people have begun to choose trains as their daily commuting tool. But... the cost doesn't seem to be worth it! At the end of 2020, 12306 launched the function of counting times/regular tickets. Click "Counting Times·Regular Tickets" on the homepage of 12306 to enter the ticket purchase interface. At present, this service is temporarily limited to the Beijing-Shanghai and Chengdu-Chongqing high-speed rail lines, and specific train numbers must be specified, which are 20 times/90 days (counting times ticket) and 60 times/30 days (regular ticket).

China Railway Counting/Regular Ticket

However, from the actual calculation of the editor, these two types of tickets are not as affordable as imagined. Taking the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway as an example, the price of a second-class 20-trip ticket is 11,240 yuan, which is 562 yuan per trip. The price of a regular ticket purchased separately is basically between 520 and 560, which is not much more expensive than a trip ticket. And because a trip ticket requires a specific train number, this means that when you want to go from A to B and then return from B to A, you actually have to buy two sets of trip cards, which is not cost-effective.

However, after calculation, I found that this ticket is not cost-effective.

8. Refund rules are synchronized with offline

Starting this year, the refund time of 12306 is officially synchronized with the offline window. The previous refund deadline was adjusted from 25 minutes before departure to before departure. Passengers who bought tickets in cash and have received reimbursement vouchers can also go to the 12306 website to go through the refund procedures, and then go to any station in the country to receive a refund within 180 days. In terms of ticket changes, online support is available for all trains before 24:00 on the same day, and there are no longer limitations like before. At the same time, the station self-service ticket machines have also added a refund function, which can provide refund services 24 hours a day.

Online ticket refunds are fully synchronized with offline windows, and self-service ticket machines support 24-hour ticket refunds

9. Where is the ticket gate? Try the station navigation

Many people have experienced getting lost in a station, especially in some large stations, where it is really hard to find a ticket gate! In the new version of 12306, click Home → "More" → "Travel Guide" → "Station Navigation" to enter the station internal map with one click. In addition to displaying information such as waiting rooms, ticket gates, and exits, it can also navigate to your current location with one click, which is definitely the "black technology" in station services.

Can't find the ticket gate? Try the station navigation

Final Thoughts

It has been ten years since its first release in 2010. In the past ten years, 12306 has gone from being criticized at the beginning to being possessed by black technology today. It is amazing. The Lunar New Year is just over a month away. When you think of going home for the New Year, you will feel full of happiness! Well, plan your journey home quickly! In 2021, we will continue to sprint!