China saw a sharp surge in passenger trips on Thursday -- the second day of the five-day May Day holiday season, with an estimated 285 million passenger trips handled by the railway, highway, waterway and air transport sectors on the day, up 33.6 percent over the same day in the pre-pandemic year of 2019, according to the Ministry of Transport.
The national railway system is estimated to handle 17 million passenger trips on the day, with the number of travelers to smaller cities significantly increasing.
Railway departments have partnered with customs authorities to provide one-stop clearance for travelers going aboard by train, and worked with public commute and tourism departments to open shuttle routes from train stations to scenic areas for the holiday.
The national highway system is estimated to handle 265 million passenger trips on the day. In addition to popular tourist attractions, more travelers are making trips to the countryside. Traffic administration authorities have deployed more staff at major junctions while regions with more electric vehicles on the road have installed more charging piles in highway service areas to accommodate holiday demands.
In particular, in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in north China and the Yangtze River Delta in east China, there is a large demand for new energy vehicle charging in the holiday season.
The civil aviation sector is estimated to handle 1.87 million passenger trips on the day, with airports and civil aviation companies going all out to deal with the sharp surge in the passenger volume.
China sees sharp surge in passenger trips on Day 2 of holiday
