Multiple Platforms Experience Train Ticket Ordering Issues During May Day, 12306 Enhances Risk Control and Blocks Millions of Malicious Ticket Snatching Attempts
Many users have reported issues such as "12306 request exception," "seat reservation failure," and "ticket issuance failure" when purchasing train tickets on travel platforms, significantly impacting the booking experience. Customer service from platforms like Tongcheng Travel, Ctrip Travel, and Didi Enterprise Edition have responded, stating that the train ticket issuance system is experiencing abnormalities or delays due to the combined impact of 12306's upgraded risk control and the May Day booking peak. Technical teams are working to fix the issues and gradually restore services.
A "Ctrip Travel Train Ticket Service Adjustment Notice" states that due to a comprehensive upgrade of related system risk control, online train ticket issuance services on third-party platforms have been suspended since April 16, 2026 (the first day of May Day holiday ticket sales). Our platform's online automatic ticket issuance function is also affected and temporarily unable to provide stable services.
Starting at 12:00 on April 17, 2026, the train ticket booking entrance on the Ctrip Travel APP will be gradually closed.
Tongcheng Travel customer service also stated that due to 12306 risk control and peak periods, the system is experiencing fluctuations, and some users are encountering booking obstacles and ticket issuance delays. However, many users can still book normally, and the technical department is continuously coordinating and resolving the issue.
In addition, Didi Enterprise Edition customer service stated that due to adjustments to 12306's ticket booking risk control rules, the platform's ticket issuance system has experienced abnormalities, and some users are facing issues such as being unable to submit waitlist requests, delayed ticket issuance, and inability to cancel orders. The system has been gradually repaired and restored since April 18.
It is worth mentioning that recently, according to the China Railway 12306 Technology Center, in order to prevent and curb malicious ticket snatching and abnormal access behavior by third-party platforms' "ticket grabbing software," and to create a fair and just ticket purchasing environment, since the start of ticket sales for the May Day holiday, as of 24:00 on April 18, 12306 has rejected 1.056 million tickets issued by "ticket grabbing software."
During this risk control upgrade, 12306 relied on big data analysis, combined with historical ticket purchase data and May Day transaction information, to accurately assess accounts that frequently purchase tickets for others and accounts that frequently pay for orders not in their own name, and implemented restrictions such as adding them to a slow queue or directly rejecting ticket issuance.
When third-party ticket grabbing software uses such accounts to purchase tickets, prompts for waiting or purchase failure will appear.
Data shows that as of 24:00 on April 18, 12306 has strengthened login authentication for 467,000 abnormal accounts, implemented tiered control over 2.988 million payment accounts, placed 5.64 million transactions in a slow queue, and rejected 704,000 transactions from issuing tickets, effectively curbing malicious ticket snatching behavior.
The railway department particularly reminds passengers to prioritize using the official 12306 platform for ticket purchases. Using third-party platforms to grab tickets not only does not increase the success rate of ticket purchases but may also result in slower ticket issuance or direct failure.
Previously, on April 10, Xinhua News Agency reported that the Cyberspace Administration of China and the China State Railway Group had jointly interviewed seven third-party ticketing platforms – Ctrip, Tongcheng, Qunar, Feizhu, Meituan, Zhixing Train Tickets, and High-Speed Rail Butler – requiring them to strictly comply with network security regulations, prohibit the use of automated programs to grab tickets on a large scale and at high frequency, and not interfere with the security verification and stable operation of the 12306 platform.