Traffic Authorities Beef up Measures to Cope with Travel Rush

Passengers wait for the subway at the Beijing West Railway Station in Beijing, China, on February 13, 2016. As the nationwide Spring Festival holiday comes to the end, the number of passengers in railway stations rises as people flock back to cities where they work. [Photo: Xinhua]

China's traffic authorities have tightened measures to deal with travel rush on Sunday as over 10 million trips are expected to be made.

The pressure on railways has been intensified as many passengers are diverted from taking flights or buses to travel back home after a strong cold front has swept across China.

Huang Zhaoling is a senior official with Guiyang railway station.

"We have improved the rail capacity by increasing and reconnecting trains. We have increased 14.5 pairs of conventional trains. And the number of high-speed trains is gaining at all times. We have increased 13 more pairs of trains heading to Shanghai, Ningbo, Wenzhou, and Nanjing."

Rail authorities have reported that 10.3 million trips were made by train on Saturday.

This has set a daily record for the Spring Festival travel rush, known as "Chunyun."

Over 840 thousand of the rail trips on Saturday were made by the Beijing Railway Bureau, up 5.6 percent year on year.

Railway passenger numbers started to rise on Friday as the week-long Chinese lunar New Year holiday ended on Saturday.

Highway authorities have estimated a 12 percent increase in traffic volume compared with the same period of last year.

Low temperatures and rain or snow brought by the cold front sweeping the country are hampering the traffic flow.

Extra traffic policemen were dispatched to roads in various parts of the country with large traffic flow to ease gridlock.

Yu Kai is an officer working at the highway connecting Chengdu and Ya'an city in Sichuan province.

"We have implemented measures to disperse and control the traffic. We have tightened controls on trucks and vehicles that carry dangerous chemicals from 2:00 to 5:00 in the afternoon."

The civil aviation authority also estimates that more than 8.5 million trips have been made during the Spring Festival holiday a 3 percent increase from last year.

Many airlines have announced extra flights to ease traffic pressure.

China Southern Airlines implemented nearly 1800 flights on Saturday. Nearly 300,000 trips have been made. According to the airline, around 200 extra flights are set to be put in use from Sunday.

The "Chunyun" period is regarded as the world's largest annual human migration.

The return rush is expected to last until Lantern Festival which falls next Monday.