Chinese government launches app for booking train tickets, and it already sucks

The government-run railway website 12306.cn has released both iOS and Android versions of its new seat-booking app. The app lets users browse, reserve, and order train tickets straight form their smartphones.

However …

QQ Tech reports the iOS version is unavailable as of press time (the link returns a blank page), and the current Android beta version is slow and sometimes crashes. When I tried to download the Android app using the QR code pictured, I am redirected to a non-mobile version of the booking page. There is no option to download the app. It seems the Railway Ministry has another dud on their hands.

12306.cn took a lot of heat in the last couple of year for its slow and buggy website (that’s putting it mildly), which reportedly cost the government nearly $100 million to make. When users started taking advantage of third-party plugins to overcome the website’s shortcomings, the government ordered the plug-ins be shut down. No word yet on the app’s development budget.

Buying tickets in person, either at the station or the many shops around cities, is probably the first choice of most passengers.

12306.cn will hopefully be able to redeem itself soon. The big test comes during the Spring Festival, when pretty much the entire country gets at least a week off of work and many people are returning home or switching jobs. Spring Festival in 2014 begins on January 31.

(Source: QQ Tech)

(Editing by Willis Wee)