China's railway logged 940 million passenger trips during this year's summer travel rush, hitting a record high, the China State Railway Group announced on Monday.
This year's summer travel rush lasted for 62 days from July 1 to Aug. 31.
The summer travel rush by rail, driven mainly by tourism and family visits, saw steady week-by-week growth. Weekly passenger volume consistently surpassed 100 million, with a daily average of approximately 15 million trips, 2.2 million more per day than during this year's Spring Festival travel rush.
To meet the high demand, operators nationwide raised train speed on key high-speed rail sections to 350 km/h, expanded services to more county-level stations, operated an average of 11,000 passenger trains daily across the national railway network, and increased transport capacity by nearly 10 percent compared to the same period of last year. A real-time monitoring system was also used to improve safety and scheduling efficiency.
"We dynamically monitored travel patterns, made precise, flexible adjustments to train schedules, and timely increased transport capacity on popular routes and during peak periods. As a result, passenger volume continued to grow steadily," said Yang Lipeng, a researcher at the 12306 Science and Innovation Center of China State Railway Group.
Meanwhile, road trips accounted for 73 percent of all cross-regional travel during the summer travel rush, with self-driving trips to rural areas growing in popularity. Scenic regions such as Tianhu Mountain in Jiangxi and cultural sites in Hunan upgraded their surrounding highways to accommodate more visitors.
The summer travel rush significantly boosted local tourism.
"Student travel, tourist flow and study tour were highly popular during the summer travel rush, effectively boosting domestic tourism consumption. It is estimated that the number of domestic tourist trips during this summer will exceed 2.5 billion," said Ala Akbay, deputy director of the Comprehensive Transport Division of the Department of Transport Services under the Ministry of Transport.
According to the latest data from the Ministry of Transport, cross-regional passenger trips of all modes of transport reached 11.9 billion during this year's summer travel rush, with a daily average of 192 million, up 4.3 percent year on year.
Record 940 mln railway trips made during China's summer travel rush
Record 940 mln railway trips made during China's summer travel rush
