BEIJING, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's railway police said Monday that 138 ticket scalpers have been captured since the beginning of the Spring Festival travel rush on Jan. 16.

As of Monday, the railway police around the country received 142 tip-offs from the public. A total of 106 cases of ticket scalping have been uncovered, and 1,737 tickets have been seized, said the railway police.

The railway police have awarded 14,700 yuan (2.400 U.S. dollars) to informers who provided 97 items of verified information.

China Railway Corporation estimated that about over quarter of a billion people will travel by rail during the Spring Festival travel peak so tickets are extremely scarce.