China sees safe, convenient Spring Festival travel rush

BEIJING -- Passengers who take the K4826 train back home to celebrate the Spring Festival, or the Chinese Lunar New Year, will get a special taste of sweetness. The final stop is "Gaoxing," which means happiness in Chinese.

The Gaoxing railway station, located in Gaoxing township of Southwest China's Sichuan province, has been operational for over four decades. But this year's Spring Festival travel rush is the first one the station welcomes after its renovation.

The new station, which covers an area of 2,500 square meters and can accommodate 600 passengers, has cellphone charging stations and smart restrooms to meet passengers' needs.

As for COVID-19 prevention and control measures, the station is equipped with infrared thermometers with staff to check passengers' travel-code and health-code verification. It also carries out comprehensive disinfection of all areas regularly.

Like Gaoxing, many other stations have worked hard to ensure a safe and convenient trip for travelers during the Spring Festival travel rush.

In the 40-day travel season, also known as chunyun, many Chinese people travel to reunite with their families for the Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on Feb 1 this year.

At Xingguoxi station in East China's Jiangxi province, a robot named "Xingxing" has taken the job of guiding passengers and answering inquiries, drawing much attention from passengers.

In response to concerns over rising coronavirus cases following the massive movement of people, the Ministry of Transport said it would coordinate with relevant government departments to introduce targeted measures to support the prevention and control of COVID-19.

The sterilization of public venues and transport vehicles, regular body-temperature checks, and face mask rules will be strictly applied.

Railway departments will continue to support the transportation of key materials related to the national economy and livelihoods. These materials include coal for power generation and heating, grain from northeast China, fertilizers for spring farming, and holiday supplies, said the China State Railway Group Co Ltd.

As of Wednesday, a total of 260 million passenger trips were made during the first ten days of the Spring Festival travel rush, up 46 percent compared with the same period of 2021, data from the Ministry of Transport showed.

The number of railway and road trips reached 54.12 million and 196 million, respectively, while waterway and air passenger trips hit 3.88 million and 8.72 million.