Frequently Asked Questions
Online ticketing service is mainly for adults although age limit is not applied on account registration. Minors aged below 18 (especially children aged below 14) who wish to register a personal 12306 account, please make sure they fully understand the terms and conditions and ask for assistance from their parents or guardian if necessary.
The English platform is a simplified version to facilitate foreign passport holders for ticket purchase. Passengers holding other types of personal identification document should use the Chinese platform in order to enjoy a more comprehensive ticketing service.
The 12306 registered users whose identity status is "Verified" can buy tickets after email verification.
Please verify that the identification information you provided is correct. Alternatively, users can bring the original identification document used for registration to the designated Ticketing Counter at the station for verification.
You cannot buy ticket via 12306 online platform. Alternatively, you may purchase tickets at stations or through appointed agents by presenting the original identification document of the passengers.
Facial verification is for checking the facial characteristics against the registered personal identification document through the China Railway 12306 mobile app (Chinese platform only). Those 12306 registered users who have passed the facial verification can enjoy more ticketing services on top of ticket purchase.
Foreign passport holders or any registered users, who cannot pass the facial verification through the mobile app, may process the verification in person at Hong Kong West Kowloon Station or Mainland stations by presenting the original personal identification document.
Yes. The same person can be added to no more than 5 Passenger Lists of 12306 registered users (including his/her own account).
Information of passengers with status of "Verification failed" can be removed any time while passengers with other status can only be removed after 30 days of registration.
If there are insufficient seats according to your preference, the system will assign the seats randomly from the remaining seats.
Seats will be assigned to passengers on English platform.
12306 online ticketing platform displays all trains of cross boundary and Mainland domestic journeys during the pre-sale period except those departed trains. "Standby" will be shown if tickets are sold out for a particular train.
You are not allowed to make a new purchase before completing the payment of the existing order.
"Standby ticket" is a unique service of 12306 online ticketing platform (Chinese platform only). If ticket or Class of Travel of particular train is not available, you can place a Standby ticket order specifying travel date, train and Class of Travel, etc. The order must be fully paid in advance. The system will automatically put your order in the waiting list according to your pre-set cut-off time of order commitment.
No, registered users can buy the "Standby tickets" after passing the facial verification or activating their 12306 loyalty programme account.
Each registered user can hold six "Standby ticket" orders. You can choose three travel dates with a maximum of sixty different combinations of "travel date and train". Different Class of travel can be selected for each train.
Yes, but all passengers on the same departure should choose the same Class of Travel.
No more than nine.
The system will charge the highest fares. The fare difference will be refunded to the original payment account If the tickets of lower fare are bought finally.
No. If you wish to change the departure date or Class of Travel, you may cancel the standby order and place a new order.
Notification of successful fulfilment or order expiry will be sent to the passengers via their pre-set notification method. They can also check the standby ticket status in their 12306 account.
Yes, ticket alteration or refund will be handled according to regular rules.
Standby ticket order cancellation is limited to five times a day. You cannot submit a new standby ticket order if exceeding the cancellation limit of the day.
Seats are subject to availability. Passengers may be arranged to sit in different coaches.
When booking tickets on 12306 online ticketing platform, passengers must complete the purchase process within the time limit once submitting the order after selecting passengers from their pre-set passenger list.
You can only cancel up to three orders a day via China Railway 12306 online ticketing platform which includes order not completed within payment time limit. If you reach the cancellation limit, you cannot buy a ticket via online platform within the day.
You can only get a ticket refund up to three times a day. If you exceed the limit, you cannot buy, alter or get a refund on the same day.
You are not allowed to cancel your account if you still have outstanding a standby order or ticket not yet used.