Chinese railways brace for post-Spring Festival travel rush

China's Ministry of Railways (MOR) said Tuesday it was requiring local branches nationwide to be ready for the post-Spring Festival travel rush as rail passenger numbers usually rise sharply starting from the third day of the Lunar New Year.


People queue to buy tickets at the Shenyang North Railway Station in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, Feb. 16, 2010. The number of passengers at Shengyang North Railway Station remarkable increase Tuesday.(Xinhua/Zhang Wenkui)
The MOR said railways carried 3.5 million passengers Monday, up 54 percent from Sunday, the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year.

The Ministry said it has asked local rail authorities to optimize their transportation capacity and open additional services if necessary, especially at such busy rail stations as Chengdu, Chongqing, Wuhan, Hefei, Fuyang and Nanchang.

Rail passengers in Wuhan, Nanchang and Chengdu rose notably Tuesday in comparison with the same day last year, the ministry said.

In the 17 days since Jan. 30, when the annual Spring Festival travel peak season began, China's railways have transported 76.39 million passengers, a daily average of 4.49 million.

The travel peak season, or Chunyun (spring transportation), poses an annual test on the country's stretched rail network.

Source: Xinhua