Society

China embraces post-holiday railway traffic boom

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-02-19 13:35

BEIJING: China's railways are challenged by travel rush after the Spring Festival as millions of people begin to return to work after the festival holiday.

The country's railways served about 5.44 million passengers nationwide on Thursday, an increase of 12.5 percent over the same day last year, according to the Ministry of Railways Friday.

The ministry said the number of long-distance travellers increased markedly as more people decided to make an earlier return trip to avoid the traffic boom.

According to the ministry, railway transport went on smoothly so far with no complaints. The forecasted warm weather would also a good condition for railway transportation.

The ministry estimated before the Spring Festival that 210 million passengers will travel during the 40-day rush period beginning January 30, a 9.5 percent rise compared with a year earlier.

The Spring Festival, or Chinese Lunar New Year, fell on February 14 this year and is an important festival of family reunions.