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The national railway system is going through a harsh test, with increasing pressure from passengers who lined up all night for a train ticket and the icy weather in the southern part of the country that could disrupt transport at any time.

A flood of people have waited in line before ticket windows at Beijing's several railway stations over the weekend, and tickets for all trains leaving Beijing were sold out in only 30 minutes after being put on sale on Saturday morning, the Beijing Times reported.

Tickets sold over the weekend are for ordinary trains leaving in the few days before the eve of the Spring Festival, which falls on Feb 3 this year.

A similar ticket-buying spree is expected to come again on Jan 27, when tickets for high-speed trains leaving in those few days ahead of the traditional family-reunion holiday are put on sale.

Meanwhile, the growth of railway passenger numbers has been speeding up day by day from Jan 22, with a remarkable rise of passenger volume compared with last year, the Ministry of Railways said on Sunday.

The latest data shows that nearly 5.28 million passengers took trains on Saturday, the fourth day of the travel peak season this year - up 23.5 percent compared with the corresponding day last year, the ministry said.

The railway ministry has vowed to sack any staff found scalping train tickets or helping scalpers.

"We'll immediately terminate the employment contract with any offenders," Vice-Minister of Railways Wang Zhiguo said at a news conference over the weekend in Beijing.

The ministry has invited more than 1,000 people to supervise the ticket sales nationwide, he said.

More than 1,800 scalpers have been arrested in recent joint efforts between the railway ministry and the Ministry of Public Security.

In addition to fears of being unable to secure a ticket, the public is also worried about the freezing weather that has been lingering in the southern part of China since the New Year began.

On Sunday, parts of Southwest China, southern Hunan province, western Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, and Hainan province had snow or sleet. For some other areas in the country, snow has stopped, but the roads are still icy.

Questions:

1. How quickly did tickets leaving Beijing sell out last Saturday?

2. An estimated how many passengers traveled that day?

3. How many ticket scalpers have been arrested this season?

Answers:

1. within 30 min.

2) 5.28 million.

3. 1,800.

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（中国日报网英语点津 Helen 编辑）

Todd Balazovic is a reporter for the Metro Section of China Daily. Born in Mineapolis Minnesota in the US, he graduated from Central Michigan University and has worked for the China Daily for one year.