Couple detained over railway ticket sales

A couple in Foshan, Guangdong province, was questioned by police for charging up to 20 yuan ($3.20) for each train ticket they bought online for others.

The incident fueled heated discussion online over whether they should be held in police custody for such actions, People's Daily reported on Thursday.

At the couple's home, police found 212 train tickets worth a total of 35,402 yuan and 213 ID cards used to buy the tickets, the paper said.

Their two computers and ID cards were taken away by police, and they were questioned for six hours at a police station.

Bail was granted on Wednesday to another couple in Foshan, detained by railway police on Jan 12 for charging 10 yuan for each train ticket they sold online.

The two couples won sympathy from many Internet users, who believe that they should not be treated as ticket scalpers and detained by police, as they charged little and helped many migrant workers needing to buy train tickets online during the travel rush for Spring Festival.

Many migrant workers also voiced their sympathy for the couples to media, saying that asking 10 yuan for a train ticket that is highly coveted during the peak travel season is acceptable.

A People's Daily website survey found 48.1 percent of Internet users are opposed to police detaining such couples, while only 17.4 percent believed such detentions should be carried out Another 33.2 percent said there is urgent need to end the monopoly on tickets sales by railway authorities.

But Shao Jianping, a publicity official at the Guangzhou Railway Group in Guangdong province, said couples suspected of speculating in train tickets should be punished by law.

Wang Xuyang, a senior lawyer in Guangdong, was quoted by People's Daily as saying such couples should not be regarded as being involved in speculation, because they bought the tickets after obtaining ID cards for the migrant workers.