China sees 230m railway trips in first half of 2024 Spring Festival rush

China's railway network handled 230 million passenger trips from January 26 to February 14, the first half of the 40-day Spring Festival travel rush, China State Railway Group (CSRG), the national railway operator, said on Thursday.

The national railway transported 15.16 million passengers on Thursday, the sixth day of the Spring Festival holiday, breaking the record for the highest single-day passenger volume during the Spring Festival travel rush, according to CSRG. It added that the national railway is expected to transport 15.3 million passengers on Friday, with an additional 1,813 passenger trains to help meet the demand. 

The passenger transportation department of CSRG said that as the Spring Festival holiday, which runs from February 10 to 17, comes to an end, returning passenger flow continues to rise. 

According to the pre-sale ticket data from 12306.cn, China's official railway ticket-booking website, on Friday, there is a high volume of outbound passengers from cities such as Beijing, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Chongqing, Xi'an, Wuhan, Shanghai, Zhengzhou, Hangzhou, and Nanjing, and a high volume of arriving passengers in cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Wuhan and Hangzhou. 

Among them, the passenger flow is particularly large in sections between major cities like Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Beijing, Shanghai and the Chongqing-Chengdu area. 

In Beijing, major railway stations are welcoming the return of passengers. According to information from the China Railway Beijing Bureau, Beijing is expected to send out 535,000 rail passengers on Friday, with an addition of 78 passenger trains. 

The capital city is expected to receive 727,000 passengers on Friday, as per ticket data. 

Railway departments across the country are also strengthening their capacity through the timely addition of passenger trains along popular routes, implementing measures to facilitate passenger travel and improving passenger services on trains. 

The Beijing Railway Group has coordinated effectively with local station area management committees by sharing passenger flow data and adjusting the public transport schedule around the city to ensure efficient and orderly passenger connections. 

In north China, the Taiyuan Railway Group added 73 temporary passenger trains, including 21 high-speed trains at night from Taiyuan, Shanxi, to Shanghai and Xi'an. The Zhengzhou Railway Group in Henan Province has operated 56 high-speed trains at night and added 15 passenger trains to destinations such as Jiaozuo, Zhoukou, Taiyuan and Nanjing.

The Spring Festival, which fell on February 10 this year, is China's biggest traditional festival. This year's Spring Festival travel rush started on January 26 and will end on March 5.

(CGTN's reporter Bi Ran contributed to this story)