China's railways to see passenger surge ahead of National Day Holiday

China expects to see 18.4 million railway passenger trips on Tuesday, the eve of the eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday.

To accommodate the surge in travel demand, the China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. has scheduled an additional 2,002 trains.

The railway network is projected to reach peak passenger flow on Wednesday. The holiday travel rush began on Monday and will continue until October 10.

The extra trains will primarily serve high-demand routes, including connections from major cities such as Shenzhen to Hong Kong, Wuhan, and from Beijing to Zhengzhou, Shenyang, Taiyuan, Xi'an, and Jinan, as well as routes from Guangzhou to Nanning and from Hangzhou to Beijing.

From Monday to Thursday, and again from October 7 to 9, nighttime high-speed trains will operate on busy routes. High-speed sleeper trains will also be added for connections from Beijing to Guangdong Province, Hong Kong, and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, as well as from Beijing and Shanghai to the southwestern provinces of Sichuan and Guizhou.

This year’s holiday will see an increase in circular high-speed rail services, thanks to new lines now in operation. For example, the recently opened Shenyang-Baihe high-speed railway in the northeastern region has enabled circular train services between the provincial capital cities of Shenyang and Changchun. Additionally, the circular high-speed rail line in eastern China's Shandong Province will operate multiple trains to cities within the province and neighboring Jiangsu Province. In northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, special tourist trains have connected the northern and southern regions.

Passengers can also buy discounted tickets on select routes. The Zhengzhou Railway Bureau is offering a 40 percent discount on business class and second-class seats for five additional nighttime high-speed trains from Luoyang Longmen Station to Zhengzhou East Station in central China's Henan Province, while first-class seats will see a 41-percent reduction from original prices.

Naval and air units of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Southern Theater Command (STC) conducted combat readiness patrols in the territorial sea and airspace of China's Huangyan Dao and its surrounding areas on Thursday.

Huangyan Dao is an inherent part of China's territory. The STC says it has enhanced readiness patrols in the territorial sea and airspace of Huangyan Dao and its surrounding areas since the beginning of April.

Such patrols serve as an effective countermeasure to prevent all sorts of rights-violation and provocative acts, said the STC, adding that their mission is to resolutely safeguard China's territorial sovereignty and uphold peace and stability in the South China Sea.

A video released Thursday by the STC shows naval and air units coordinate to locate and track a target.