BEIJING, March 16 -- Chinese railways, roads, airlines and waterways carried a total of 2.81 billion passengers during the 40-day Spring Festival travel rush, known as "chunyun," which concluded on Sunday.

The figure represented a 3.5-percent rise over the corresponding period last year, the Ministry of Transport (MOT) said on Monday.

Chunyun has been called the world's largest human migration.

A total of 2.42 billion passengers traveled on roads, while 295 million chose to travel by rail, according to the MOT, adding that passengers on waterways reached 42.84 million.

Airlines carried 49.14 million passengers during this year's travel rush.