China kicks off Spring Festival travel rush with 9 bln trips expected

An aerial drone photo taken on Jan. 26, 2024 shows bullet trains at a maintenance base in Nanchang, east China's Jiangxi Province. (Xinhua/Wan Xiang)

BEIJING, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- China officially ushered in its largest annual population migration on Friday, 15 days ahead of the Spring Festival, or the Lunar New Year, with record-breaking journey numbers expected.

An estimated 9 billion passenger trips are likely to be made during the 2024 travel rush period, according to the country's transport ministry.

Of the total, 7.2 billion trips or about 80 percent will be made by self-driving, while 1.8 billion trips will be made via railways, highways, waterways, and civil aviation, the ministry said.

China's railway operator on Friday said the country's railways are expected to handle 480 million passengers during this travel season, with an average of 12 million trips daily, an increase of 37.9 percent compared with the previous year. About 10.6 million train trips are expected to be made on Friday, the first day of the travel rush.

The 40-day travel surge, also known as "chunyun," will see hundreds of millions of people return home and reunite with their friends and families.

This year's Lunar New Year runs from Feb. 10 to 17, one day longer than in previous years. The extended holiday will put even more pressure on the nation's transport system, as unleashed pent-up demand for family reunions overlaps with surging travel demand.

An aerial drone photo taken on Jan. 26, 2024 shows bullet trains at a maintenance base in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

A mechanic checks a bullet train at a maintenance base in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Jan. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Wu Zhizun)

An aerial drone photo taken on Jan. 26, 2024 shows bullet trains at a maintenance base in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province. (Xinhua/Wu Zhizun)

This photo taken on Jan. 26, 2024 shows bullet trains at a maintenance base in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province. (Xinhua/Deng Hua)

A mechanic checks a bullet train at a maintenance base in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, Jan. 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

An aerial drone photo taken on Jan. 26, 2024 shows bullet trains at a maintenance base in Fuzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province. (Xinhua/Zhou Yi)

This photo taken on Jan. 26, 2024 shows bullet trains at a maintenance base in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province. (Xinhua/Chen Zhenhai)

A mechanic checks a bullet train at a maintenance base in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, Jan. 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Zhenhai)

A stitched panoramic aerial photo shows bullet trains at a maintenance base in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Jan. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Wu Zhizun)

An aerial drone photo taken on Jan. 26, 2024 shows bullet trains at a maintenance base in Nanchang, east China's Jiangxi Province. (Xinhua/Wan Xiang)

A robot checks a bullet train at a maintenance base in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, Jan. 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

A staff member works at a bullet train maintenance base in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, Jan. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

A mechanic checks a bullet train at a maintenance base in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province, Jan. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Chen Zhenhai)

An aerial drone photo taken on Jan. 26, 2024 shows bullet trains at a maintenance base in Fuzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province. (Xinhua/Zhou Yi)

An aerial drone photo taken on Jan. 26, 2024 shows bullet trains at a maintenance base in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

An aerial drone photo taken on Jan. 26, 2024 shows bullet trains at a maintenance base in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province. (Xinhua/Chen Sihan)

Mechanics work at a bullet train maintenance base in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Jan. 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Du Zixuan)

An aerial drone photo taken on Jan. 26, 2024 shows bullet trains at a maintenance base in Nanchang, east China's Jiangxi Province. (Xinhua/Wan Xiang)

A mechanic checks a bullet train at a maintenance base in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Jan. 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Du Zixuan)

An aerial drone photo taken on Jan. 26, 2024 shows bullet trains at a maintenance base in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province. (Xinhua/Deng Hua)

An aerial drone photo taken on Jan. 26, 2024 shows bullet trains at a maintenance base in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province. (Xinhua/Deng Hua)

Mechanics check a bullet train at a maintenance base in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Jan. 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Du Zixuan)

A girl and her father, who are about to take a train to their home in central China's Hubei Province, walks at Beijing West Railway Station in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong)

Passengers are seen on a platform at Harbin Railway Station in Harbin, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, Jan. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Tao)

A drone photo taken on Jan. 26, 2024 shows passengers waiting for ticket check at Hefei South Railway Station in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province. (Xinhua/Zhou Mu)

Passengers board a train at Hefei South Railway Station in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, Jan. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhou Mu)

Passengers are seen at Beijing West Railway Station in Beijing, capital of China, on Jan. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Ren Chao)

Passengers take a bullet train at Kunming South Railway Station in Kunming, southwest China's Yunnan Province on Jan. 26, 2024. (Photo by Zhang Zhengju/Xinhua)

An aerial drone photo taken on Jan. 26, 2024 shows bullet trains at a maintenance base in Kunming, southwest China's Yunnan Province. (Photo by Zhang Zhengju/Xinhua)

An aerial drone photo taken on Jan. 26, 2024 shows bullet trains at a maintenance base in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province. (Photo by Fang Dongxu/Xinhua)

Passengers are seen at Beijing West Railway Station in Beijing, capital of China, on Jan. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhang Chenlin)

Passengers are seen at Shenzhen North Railway Station in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, Jan. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Liang Xu)

Passengers are seen on a bullet train bound for Lianyungang, east China's Jiangsu Province, at Shenzhen North Railway Station in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, Jan. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Liang Xu)

Passengers line up for ticket check at Xuzhou East Railway Station in Xuzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, Jan. 26, 2024. (Photo by Liu Jianhua/Xinhua)

A staff member puts up Spring Festival decorations at a waiting hall of Beijing West Railway Station in Beijing, capital of China, on Jan. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong)

An aerial drone photo taken on Jan. 26, 2024 shows bullet trains at a maintenance base in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province. (Photo by Yang Suping/Xinhua)

Passengers are seen at Beijing West Railway Station in Beijing, capital of China, on Jan. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Ren Chao)

Passengers are seen at the waiting hall of Wuhan Railway Station in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Jan. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Wu Zhizun)

Passengers are seen at the waiting hall of Wuhan Railway Station in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Jan. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Wu Zhizun)

Passengers are seen at the waiting hall of Wuhan Railway Station in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Jan. 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Wu Zhizun)

A staff member watches a train depart on the platform at Daozhou Railway Station in Yongzhou, central China's Hunan Province, Jan. 26, 2024. (Photo by Jiang Keqing/Xinhua)

Passengers on board a train wait to depart at Daozhou Railway Station in Yongzhou, central China's Hunan Province, Jan. 26, 2024. (Photo by Jiang Keqing/Xinhua)