Migrant workers backing luggages arrive at Fuyang Railway Station, in China's central Anhui Province, Jan. 11, 2009. The 40-day travel peak before, during and after the Spring Festival holiday began on Sunday, with the estimation of 2.32 billion people to travel over the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday. [Xinhua]

"In tough times, the realignment of police forces is necessary and can benefit the most vulnerable," Chai says. The Beijing Bureau alone has deployed 300 extra police to strengthen standard and temporary services.

As export-oriented companies on the eastern coast have gone broke or shut down temporarily, rural migrants have been returning home since early November.

This has to some extent reduced current numbers of passengers, but the weakening economy had also complicated this year's transport trends.

As the Spring Festival approaches, students, rural migrants, tourists and those going home to visit their families can become aggravated by the stress of travel, Railway Ministry spokesman Wang Yongping has said.

After the Lunar New Year, uncertainty will arise, he explained, as new job opportunities are yet to be found.

Ticket scalping

On Wednesday afternoon, Wang Yongping joined a forum named "Qiangguo" or "Rejuvenating Nation" on the state-run People.com website where critics described ticket scalping as a "malicious tumor" and challenged him over the rumored collusion between railway staff and ticket scalpers.

Wang reiterated that the Railway Ministry would deal harshly with malpractice in ticket sales.

"Ticket scalpers come in all shapes, some with big chain-like operations, others are individuals. But whatever form they take, illegal profit is the motivation. Railway police will not only get on scalpers on the street, but also the ringleaders behind the scenes," he said.

Sources with the Railroad Police say a nationwide campaign, dubbed "Blue Shield" was launched last December to tackle ticket counterfeiting and scalping. Police have gathered mug shots and information on serial offenders and set up a database for reference at railway stations.

Guangzhou Railway Police early this month cracked a counterfeiting ring and seized 196 finished and almost 60,000 semi-processed tickets.

In Beijing Railway and Beijing West Railway Stations, about 200 police were deployed from neighbouring Shijiazhuang and Tianjin. "Offenders are unfamiliar with their faces, so the out-of-town police can stay undercover," Chai says.

To encourage the public to offer tips of malpractice, Beijing railway authority guarantee to keep their identities confidential and offer rewards, but also to secure their privilege in using the tickets obtained.

"As passengers who disclose to us the source of their overcharged tickets were prohibited from using the ticket in the past, our rewards seemed too small compared to the time and energy they spent obtaining a new ticket. This year, our principle is not only to be grateful, but also not to put them through extra trouble," Chai says.