He further explained that firstly, the change fee rules lacked fair consideration. If a passenger misses the train on the day and changes his ticket before 24:00 on the day of departure, he can only change the train to the next day or later, and he will have to pay a handling fee of up to 40%, which is much higher than the 20% standard for refunds in the same period. This billing method does not fully take into account the objective needs of passengers who "still need to travel after missing the train". Passengers who miss the train due to operational errors or traffic delays often have to bear additional costs beyond their expectations. At the same time, the 15% handling fee for ticket changes less than 24 hours before driving is too burdensome for small tickets and lacks an upper limit protection mechanism.
Second, the rebooking operation lacks a withdrawal mechanism. Once the current change operation is confirmed, it will take effect immediately and cannot be withdrawn. If passengers cannot restore the original ticket status due to operational errors, system delays, or misoperation by others, they can only choose to refund the ticket and bear additional fees. This "correction means loss" design leaves no room for passengers to make corrections and significantly increases the cost of travel without subjective intention.
Third, service connection and information prompts are obviously insufficient. At present, the railway department's "free refund within 30 minutes" policy to benefit the people has not yet been extended to the ticket change process. The official platform operation page lacks clear risk warning and fee preview functions, making it difficult for passengers to predict the actual handling fee amount before confirming the change. In addition, the rules for changing tickets on third-party ticket purchasing platforms are different from the official ones. The rules are opaque and inconsistent, which can easily lead to misunderstandings and disputes.
In order to optimize the EMU rebooking service and protect the legitimate rights and interests of passengers, Lei Maoduan put forward three suggestions. The first is to optimize the billing rules for rebooking fees. The handling fee for rebooking for the next day and subsequent trains after missing a train will be reduced from 40% to 20%, consistent with the refund standards, taking into account railway operating costs and passenger affordability. The 15% handling fee for ticket changes less than 24 hours before driving is stipulated, and a cap of 50 yuan is added to avoid excessively high handling fees for small tickets. At the same time, for special groups such as the elderly, students, and disabled people, relying on the 12306 real-name authentication system, free rebooking opportunities are provided twice a year; any rebooking losses caused by system failures or prompt errors shall be fully refunded after verification.
The second is to establish a withdrawal mechanism for rebooking errors to provide room for error correction. Set up a 30-minute free withdrawal window after ticket changes, allowing passengers to promptly restore their original ticket status after an operation error. The conditions for withdrawal are limited to more than 4 hours before driving time, failure to print out the reimbursement voucher, and failure to check in luggage. After withdrawal, the original seat information will be restored and the number of changes will not be used. For emergency rebooking errors that are less than 4 hours before driving, a manual review channel is opened. If it is verified that it is a non-subjective and malicious operation, the rebooking can be revoked and only a 10 yuan cost will be charged. Special groups are exempted.
The third is to improve the service guarantee system and improve operation friendliness. The official platform operation interface has been optimized, and key information such as fee details and withdrawal time limit are clearly marked on the rebooking page. Secondary pop-up window confirmation and real-time fee preview functions have been added to guide passengers to standardize operations. Promote the unified change of rules between the railway department and mainstream third-party platforms to ensure synchronized and transparent policies. Establish a rapid handling mechanism for rebooking disputes and promise to respond to passenger complaints within 72 hours and provide feedback on the handling results within 15 working days. The 12306 system was simultaneously upgraded to realize the real-time effect of the withdrawal operation, and an online portal for "Rescheduling Error Appeal" was added to support passengers in uploading certification materials for manual review, improving service convenience.
Lei Maoduan pointed out that optimizing the EMU rebooking service can not only effectively solve the practical pain point of "easy to change but difficult to correct errors" for passengers, and highlight the public welfare attribute of railway passenger transportation, it can also promote the transformation of railway services from "management-oriented" to "demand-oriented", reduce rights disputes from the source, and enhance people's sense of travel gain.
