I don't think I had ever writen a post about Ctrip
(CTRP). This may be my first post regards CTRP.
Yesterday, Ctrip starts selling train tickets.
First, some background information, China's railroad
ministry is notorious for horrible (and dangerous) service at high prices. But
it is at the top of political hierarchy. It has its own ministry (the same level as
transportation ministry). It had powerful politicians.
But two years ago, that politician was removed due to bullet
train accident. Now, the ministry is demoted and will subject itself under the
ministry of transportation.
See the following article: (China Plans Overhaul of
Railway System)
That left a sliver of opening. Today, CTRP started to
sell cheap train tickets. See the following article:
or
The CTRP train ordering web site:
This could be a game changer for CTRP. There are a lot
more people taking train than airplane or hotel. Many order of magnitude more. In addition, price of high end train tickets (such as bullet train) can be very expensive, more expensive than airplane tickets.
But for now, we still have to wait a little longer to see
if this change is for real. Will the government shut down CTRP new
train ordering site? or if the CTRP train ordering site is with the blessing of
the government?
Only time can tell. But this could be the start of
something exciting.
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