China's Spring Festival travel rush to begin next Jan.: Ticketing platform introduces new student-friendly features

According to CCTV News, the 2025 Spring Festival travel rush (known as "Chunyun") will officially begin on Jan. 14, 2025, with train tickets for the first day of the travel period available for purchase starting Dec. 31. To enhance convenience for students during this busy season, China's railway ticketing system, 12306, has introduced a new pre-booking feature for student travelers.

From today through Feb. 12, 2025, eligible student passengers can use the student ticket pre-booking service on the 12306 mobile app to reserve train tickets for travel between Dec. 28, 2024, and Feb. 28, 2025.

Each user account can submit up to three orders at a time, with each order allowing five combinations of "train + seat class" for a specific travel date. Available seat options include hard seats, hard sleepers, and second-class seats eligible for student discounts. A single order can accommodate up to nine student passengers, including the account holder.

Recognizing the increasing trend of students reuniting with their parents in different locations, China Railway has also optimized student ticket rules for the period from Jan. 1 to March 31, 2025. Students can now flexibly set their discounted ticket travel routes based on their reunion locations and purchase student tickets accordingly via the 12306 system.

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