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Railways pull through busiest travel rush in January

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-02-03 20:27

BEIJING -- China's railway sector witnessed it's busiest season in January, as millions of people returned to their families for the traditional Spring Festival holiday season reunion.

Migrant workers wait to board trains at a railway station in Guiyang, capital of southwest China's Guizhou Province Saturday January 31, 2009. As the Spring Festival holidays came to end, the transportation of migrant workers from their hometowns to the cities reached peak all over the nation. [Xinhua]

The railway passenger total hit 133 million for the month, representing an increase of 11.8 percent over the same month last year, according to  the Ministry of Railways (MOR).

Related readings:  Snow, fog, rain likely to disrupt festival travel  China embraces post-holiday travel rush  Tourism: Holiday travel still strong  Domestic travel poised for takeoff

In the first 21 days of the 40-day holiday rush period from January 11, 93.61 million people traveled by train, or a daily volume of 4.46 million on average, up 15.4 percent over the same period last year.

To cope with the booming passenger flow, extra trains were rostered for traffic hubs and densely populated regions.

The MOR warned at the same time that the railways are expected to face even bigger challenges in Feb, when people will return to work from home towns by train.

The ministry pledged more trains for transportation hubs including Chengdu, Hefei, Wuhan and Nanchang.