According to the Ministry of Transport, sales of train tickets online has led to substandard service.
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| The online system does not have the capacity to meet realistic demand |
“Since the online service was launched, it has helped people to save time and decrease disorder at train stations. On the other hand, brokers affected the quality and price of tickets. Many of these agents pre-book tickets and resell them at inflated prices,” said a report from the ministry, released on January 9.
According to the ministry, the situation has stemmed from the fact that the VRC granted complete autonomy to manage the service to Saigon Railway Passenger Transport Company (Saigon Railway), without proper oversight.
The online system also does not have the capacity to meet realistic demand, causing it to malfunction during times of high demand. The current bandwidth is only able to accommodate 1,000 hits.
After going through the firm's database, the ministry determined that up to 30% of Saigon Railway’s online train tickets are currently brokered by middlemen, resulting in false scarcities, which prevent customers from directly using train services.
In order to improve the quality of service, the ministry requested that Saigon Railway tighten its oversight of ticket sales in order to prevent speculation and ensure stable prices for customers. They also recommended an overhaul of the online system for selling train tickets.
The company has been prompted by the ministry to come up with a scheme to streamline their methods of ticket sales by the second quarter of 2012.
