A RECENT survey by China Youth Daily found that 66.4 percent of respondents suggested the need for more regulations to crack down on uncivilized behavior on trains.

Of the 2,004 surveyed, 61.8 percent said punishment for inappropriate behavior on trains should be toughened.

Uncivilized behavior mentioned by the respondents include making loud noises, smoking, taking others’ seats and train fare evasion.

Wang Yuan, a student of a university in Beijing who goes home by high-speed train, said the experience of taking trains was “just so so.”

Wang suggested that train staff broadcast reminders of no smoking at regular intervals and make sure passengers know that smoking in the compartments will trigger fire alarms and smoke detectors.

“Such methods can be applied to curb loud noises and taking of others’ seats,” Wang said, adding that more police officers should be dispatched to patrol the trains and punish those misbehaving.

“It is necessary to impose higher fines on those who evade train fares and ride outside of the purchased distance,” said Sun Zhang, a professor with the Institute of Rail Transit of Tongji University.

Sun also stressed the importance of efforts to raise people’s awareness of behaving themselves in public.

According to the Ministry of Public Security, over 9,000 people have been given administrative detention for disturbing railway operations in the first half of the year.

Twenty-two people were detained for forcibly taking other people’s seats on high-speed trains and 11 for blocking or pushing open train doors, according to the ministry.

The ministry also launched a special campaign to crack down on public safety issues that will last until the end of this year. Frequently reported problems including taking other passengers’ seats, blocking train doors, smoking on high-speed trains, destroying railway facilities and obstructing police enforcement are the key targets of the campaign. (SD-Xinhua)