Spring Festival travel rush kicks off in the city

Shanghai railway stations served over 416,000 passengers on Friday, the first day of this year’s Spring Festival rush. The passenger volume was is 17.1 percent more than the same time in 2019, which was pre-pandemic level.

Hot destinations are the provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou, Jiangxi, Hunan, and Hubei. The overlap of passengers for the festival travel rush and weekend travel caused a significant rise in passenger flow, so Shanghai railway stations added 16 trains on services to Yunnan, Guizhou, Anhui, Sichuan, Chongqing, and northern Jiangsu.

Tickets to Yunnan, Guizhou, northeastern China and Hunan are in short supply, railway authorities said.

From Friday to March 5, China is expected to see 9 billion passenger trips during the travel rush, a period of high transportation demand as people return home for family reunions. Passenger trips via railways, highways, waterways, and civil aviation services are expected to hit 1.8 billion during the 40-day period, according to the Ministry of Transport.

The China Railway Shanghai Group said the Yangtze River Delta region railway network is expected to handle 89 million passenger trips during the 40-day travel rush, setting a new record. It would be 18.7 percent more than the same period in 2019.

In order to give passengers a good experience during the travel rush, Shanghai railway stations have prepared carefully and students volunteer teams from local universities helped assist passengers.

Traditional Chinese performances, festival decorations, and small gifts are available in the waiting rooms.

Wu Yan was taking her two children back to her hometown in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province. She said they are leaving on the first day of the travel rush as she is eager to reunite with her family.

“The railway station and service is well-organized,” she said. “The whole process is very smooth here.”

Jiang Xiaowei / SHINE