Stubborn smokers may face train ban
Any passenger who violates the smoking ban on highspeed trains twice can be forbidden from purchasing tickets in China, China Railway Corp has announced.
According to ticketing website 12306.com, the new rule took effect on Monday.
Passengers caught smoking on a high-speed train will be fined and won’t be allowed to buy high-speed train tickets again unless they sign an agreement promising not to smoke, the new regulation said.
If there is a second offense, railway authorities can prohibit him or her from riding the high-speed train again, the website said.
The first regulation to ban smoking on bullet trains was introduced in 2014. Before then, train crews could monitor and persuade passengers who smoked but were not able to punish them.
Smoking was listed as a dangerous behavior on a high-speed train in 2014. A violator may be fined up to 2,000 yuan ($300). Smoking can trigger alarms on a highspeed train, forcing the train to slow or even stop.
Media reports about highspeed trains being forced to brake after passengers smoked have made headlines in recent years.
According to Beijing News, in January last year, 20 cases of passengers smoking in carriages or restrooms of highspeed trains were reported in the railway section managed by Chengdu, Sichuan province.
The Beijing railway authority also issued its first ticket in 2014, when a passenger smoking on a high-speed train from Beijing to Tianjin was fined 1,000 yuan.