11 tickets to ride

Recently I bumped into an acquaintance at Zuoying High Speed Rail Station (左營高鐵站). Uncharacteristically, he appeared to be hawking bullet train tickets. I asked what was up, and he told me about a scheme he’d joined to obtain the tickets at a heavy discount.

I was impressed. Not so much by the scheme itself, but by the level of social trust necessary to make it work.

I doubt it would work in most other countries.

As best I can understand, here’s how things played out:

Background

Reserved bullet train seats between Kaohsiung and Taipei typically cost NT$1,490 (NZ$75). It’s a 350 km journey that takes 96 minutes (hence the title of this 2025 Taiwanese action film, now on Netflix).

If you’re in a group of 11 or more, you can get discounts of around 30–40% off the standard price.

But what if you’re traveling alone?

Act I: The organizer makes his move

Some random guy, the ‘organizer’, makes a post on Facebook.

In Chinese, it reads something like:

Are you traveling from Kaohsiung to Taipei on [date]? Message me for cheap tickets.

Once he gets 11 strangers to commit, he gives the word and they send him money for the tickets.

The organizer then sets up a private LINE group chat, and invites the 11 strangers to join.

He asks one of them to volunteer to be group leader.

Then the organizer buys 11 tickets online, in the group leader’s name.

The organizer doesn’t take commission. His incentive is the cash-back or credit card rewards from making a large purchase.

Act II: The group leader steps up

The group leader arrives at the station an hour before departure, goes to the ticketing desk, and collects the 11 tickets.

They show their ID and sign for collection.

Act III: Trusting buyers make contact

The group leader waits at a landmark in the station (in this case, at a particular exit). They share their location with the others, along with a photo or description of what they’re wearing.

Over the next 30 or 40 minutes, the other 10 passengers come up, introduce themselves, and take a ticket each. Earlier buyers get better seats. No one wants to be stuck in the middle.

Each buyer photographs their ticket and shares it in the group chat, thus confirming receipt.

Act IV: Time to hawk the remaining tickets

The group leader commits to waiting until 10 minutes before departure.

If any buyers can’t make it, too bad.

The group leader then has the option to board the train immediately, or spend a few minutes trying to hawk any remaining tickets. They can keep the proceeds.

(This is what my acquaintance was doing when I saw him at the station. And, with minutes to go before departure, he sold them!)

The group leader then runs to board the departing train.

Act V: The scheme concludes

Given the tickets were purchased together, the strangers are seated together too. They don’t know each other. Only the group leader has met the other ten.

Even the organizer only knows them as temporary online contacts.

They ride north in silence, like any other strangers on a train.