China's railways reported 15 percent surge in passenger volume Monday, the 7th day of the annual travel rush when hundreds of millions of Chinese people return home to spend Spring Festival with their families.
More than 10.61 million trips were made by rail Monday, according to China Railway Corp.
A record 2.99 billion trips are expected during this year's "Chunyun," the name given for the travel rush around Spring Festival, or Chinese Lunar New Year, according to the Ministry of Transport.
In response to the peak passenger flow, 927 passenger trains were added to the fleet on Monday with special trains for migrant workers put into operation by railway authorities in Shenyang and Xi'an. Beijing, Nanjing, Chengdu, Chongqing and Taiyuan opened night service for high-speed train travel. Beijing's three major railway stations are expected to send 495,000 passengers Monday, including 140,000 in Beijing, 210,000 in Beijing West, and 145,000 in Beijing South.
During the Spring Festival travel rush, 220,000 sea trips are expected to be made Fujian and Taiwan, an increase of 3%. In the seven days before the Spring Festival, the sea passenger transport between Fujian and Taiwan is expected to record 45,100 passengers due to the home-going trips of the Taiwanese and the influx of the tourists from the Chinese mainland.
The Chinese Spring Festival, also known as Chunyun in Chinese, starts 15 days before the Chinese New Year and ends 25 days after it. The 40-day festival witnesses the largest annual migration on Earth, as millions of people travel either home to be with their family and friends to celebrate the Chinese New Year — which falls on Feb. 5 in 2019 — or play tourist during the one-week-long Spring Festival holidays. More than 2.99 billion trips are expected to be made this year.
(source:ourjiangsu.com)
