Police begin rail ticket scalping smash

China's railway police on Tuesday began a nationwide crackdown on ticket scalping to ensure smooth travel during the upcoming holidays.

The campaign protects the legal rights of travelers during the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays, which will run from Sept. 19 to 21 and Oct. 1 to 7, respectively, according to the railway police authorities.

Scalpers have adopted various illegal ways to gain a large number of tickets and resell the tickets to travelers at a higher price, according to the railway police.

Some have made fake identity documents in order to buy more tickets or are even touting fake tickets to cheat travelers, the police said.

Scalping and ticket forging seriously affected travel by train before January, 2012, when China promoted a real-name buying system nationwide.

Ticket scalping has generally been curbed since then but the scalpers have also "updated" their ways of amassing and reselling tickets, according to the railway police.

Railway police at all levels will reinforce monitoring of touts in railway stations across the nation, especially at stations in big cities like Beijing, Shanghai and in tourist spots like Guilin.