A new system for purchasing train tickets that requires people to use their real names when buying the tickets, introduced this year to crack down on rampant ticket scalping during the Spring Festival holiday travel rush, has helped police in northeast China's Liaoning Province to nab four dozen fugitives.

Railway police in the provincial capital of Shenyang have apprehended a total of 48 fugitives at several train stations since the holiday travel season began on Jan. 8, a police spokesman said Thursday.

Travelers are required to show identification, as well as their train tickets, before entering train stations in China. The fugitives were caught while having their personal information checked at the stations, the spokesman said.

"In addition to effectively cracking down on ticket scalpers, the real-name ticketing system has left escaped suspects with no place to hide," he said.

The Spring Festival holiday, also known as the beginning of the Chinese Lunar New Year, is the country's biggest and most important holiday.

A total of 3.16 billion passenger trips are expected during this year's 40-day travel rush, up 9.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.

China's railways alone will carry 235 million passengers during the period, as train trips, which are generally cheaper than flights and safer than road transportation, are favored by the majority of those who are homeward bound.