加速包真能优先买火车票？回应来了……

There are still 8 days to go till the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday, but the public is already showing great enthusiasm for travel.

Media reports say that the 12306 system, the country's official train ticket-ordering platform, was recently visited 53.2 billion times in one day, that's 616,000 visits per second.

With a ticket so sought after, some third party platforms and a new breed of scalpers are taking advantage of people lacking the wherewithal to snap up tickets online, at no small a price.

scalper /ˈskælpə(r)/ 黄牛 票贩子

For instance, one platform offers services at different speed, ranging from Fast, to High Speed, Extreme Speed, Lightning Speed, to VIP, with the service charge ranging from 10 yuan (US$1.37) to 80 yuan. By providing "accelerators" the platforms allegedly enable customers to book tickets at a faster speed.

然而这真是一笔值得的投资吗？

近日，中国国家铁路集团有限公司（以下简称国铁集团）给出了官方回应。

2023年8月22日，上海，8月暑期高峰的上海虹桥火车站。图源：视觉中国

国铁集团：第三方平台加速包无法实现优先购票

The railway authority has sounded a cautionary note, warning travelers that 12306 has not outsourced its ticket booking services to any third party. By giving information to a third party while booking a ticket, customers not only face the risk of unexplained charges or other pitfalls, but also leaks of their personal information. All travelers are advised to book tickets only through the 12306 portal or app.

The railway authority also denied that accelerator packages touted by third party platforms are entitled to any priority in purchasing tickets, Xinhua news agency reported today.

2023年8月29日，暑运期间，旅客在北京北站出行。图源：视觉中国

国铁集团铁路12306科创中心副主任单杏花表示，在乘客人数较多的情况下，高铁动车也有可能出现8节车厢改为12节车厢的情况，候补购票可以更快买到票，接受无座的抢票成功率更高。

The railway authority's technical arm has also made due preparations to cope with the abrupt surge in visits to the booking portal, and to ensure its smooth and efficient operation during the holiday.

It also revealed that those on the railway booking portal's waiting list for returned tickets actually have a success rate in excess of 75 percent. Passengers can inflate their chances of success by specifying multiple times, trains, seats, and a longer waiting time.

编辑：李雪晴