Train ticket scalpers are still rampant despite a recent clampdown, which has prompted the government to take more stringent measures against illegal ticket selling.

Vice Mayor Zhang Siping ordered police and commerce authorities to launch a massive fight against ticket scalpers yesterday, after a flood of angry ticket buyers filed complaints through a call-in radio program Tuesday evening.

Citizens who find it hard to order a train ticket through the railway company's hotline 9510-5160, have discovered easy to access scalpers who are selling tickets at prices twice as high, ticket buyers told the program.

"I tried to order a ticket at 8 a.m. every morning, but never succeeded. However, a ticket agent told me that I could get tickets to any location if I was willing to pay a high price," said a ticket buyer identified by his surname Du.

Some scalpers are obtaining tickets from travelers who no longer plan to vacation over the holiday. While some ticket seekers are obtaining tickets by hiring others to continuously dial the hotline, according to Huang Xin, an official with the railway company. Most illegal tickets were sold through small supermarkets and grocery stores.

As the Spring Festival approaches it is becoming increasingly difficult to get a train ticket. As of 6 p.m. yesterday, nearly all train tickets for long-distance trips before Jan. 27 had been sold out.

From 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. yesterday morning, there were 19.96 million calls to the ticket hotline, but only 24,000 people obtained tickets.

As of Monday, police had caught 99 scalpers and closed 75 illegal ticket agencies. Forty people were detained, with four facing criminal charges. Some 1,186 tickets were confiscated.

The railway company has promised to award people the priority to buy tickets for tipping off scalpers.

Editor: Yan