China braces for record numbers of travellers as millions start journey home for Lunar New Year
Almost 300 million rail journeys expected to be made over 40-day frenzy with millions more taking to the roads and skies to see families
The mainland's railway system yesterday braced itself for a record onslaught of passengers as the huge travel getaway for the Lunar New Year holiday officially got under way.
The Ministry of Transport said 2.4 billion road trips and 295 million rail journeys would be made over the next 40 days as people return to their hometowns for family reunions. Another 47.5 million journeys would be made by plane, a spokesman said.
Beijing Capital International Airport is expected to handle 9.84 million passengers during the period, with a daily average of 245,900 people travelling, up 4.12 per cent from that period in 2014. A total of 65,000 flights are scheduled during the period. More than 55 million passengers are expected to take the train from or to the capital during the peak.
The travel period, known as ("spring transport" in Putonghua), is thought to be the biggest annual migration of people in the world. But thousands of people can be left scrambling to secure a train ticket home from touts as record numbers travel.
The authorities have promised extra services to try cope with the demand. Beijing is providing 86 more train services to Sichuan, Heilongjiang, Zhejiang, Hubei, Anhui and Jiangxi provinces during the travel peak.
The ministry also upgraded the online and telephone train-ticketing system to give passengers 40 more days to reserve a seat during the peak - meaning travellers could make bookings up to 60 days before travelling.
