China's railway network is predicted to handle 18.25 million passenger trips on Thursday, the New Year's Day, welcoming the busiest day during the five-day New Year holiday travel rush, according to China State Railway Group Co., Ltd.
The travel rush, running from Wednesday to Sunday, will see about 77.8 million railway passenger trips, with Wednesday recording 16.682 million trips.
The national railway system scheduled 1,113 additional passenger trains on Thursday to accommodate the increased travel demand.
To match the peak demand, a special high-traffic timetable is being implemented across the national rail network. More than 12,000 passenger trains are scheduled to run each day during the travel rush period, with 270 additional direct trains arranged to strengthen links between major cities.
Many travelers chose to cross into 2026 while traveling. On the Beijing–Tianjin intercity line, a New Year-themed event was organized on train on Wednesday, turning the holiday journey itself into a celebration to embrace the new year.
Up north, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province launched a special tourist service between Harbin City and the ski destination of Yabuli for the New Year period. A group of 240 tourists from Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai spent the New Year's Day immersed in Heilongjiang's ice-and-snow landscapes. The Harbin–Yabuli ice-and-snow tourist trains will operate through February.
This New Year's Day is also the first major holiday test for several newly opened lines and stations, which have significantly increased passenger capacity and route options. Recent openings, including the Xi'an-Yan'an high-speed railway, the Wuhan-Yichang section of the railway connecting Shanghai, northwest Chinese cities of Chongqing and Chengdu, and the Hefei West Railway Station, are offering travelers more options than in previous years.
Winter sports and ice-and-snow tourism are major contributors to railway transportation during the New Year holiday travel rush. The Beijing–Zhangjiakou high-speed railway has continued to serve as a key artery for winter travel in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region. From Wednesday to Sunday, Beijing North and Qinghe stations will be operating 25 additional pairs of trains to major winter sports hub Chongli, making travel easier for skiers heading to the major ski and resort area in Hebei Province in New Year's Day holiday period.
China's railway trips expected to hit 18.25 million on New Year's Day
China's two major power grid operators -- the State Grid Corporation of China (State Grid) and China Southern Power Grid (CSG) -- reported a surge in investment in the first quarter of 2026, underscoring efforts to strengthen infrastructure construction and support high-quality socioeconomic development in China.
The State Grid said it completed fixed-asset investment worth 129 billion yuan (about 18.77 billion U.S. dollars) in the first three months of this year, up 37 percent the corresponding period of the previous year. The spending has driven more than 250 billion yuan (36 billion U.S. dollars) of investment across the wider industrial chain.
Key projects such as the Panxi ultra-high-voltage (UHV) alternating current (AC) line and the Anhui-Hubei back-to-back direct current (DC) project have seen ground broken for their construction, while several west-to-east power transmission projects have been upgraded.
Investment in connecting renewable energy generation to the grid was reported to have exceeded 10 billion yuan (1.45 billion U.S. dollars) from January to March, a year-on-year rise of more than 50 percent.
The CSG also reported robust growth in investment in the three-month period, with fixed-asset investment reaching 38.45 billion yuan (5.58 billion U.S. dollars), up about 50 percent from a year earlier.
Among its achievements, the company completed and commissioned 80 key projects, including the 220 kV cross-sea power grid interconnection project, which was officially put into operation on March 20. The project ended years of grid isolation on the Weizhou Island in south China by linking it to the main power system of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
The construction of 17 other major energy projects, including one linking the power grid of the Xizang Autonomous Region in southwest China with that of Guangdong Province in south China, is advancing rapidly. These projects are expected to bolster regional industries, the maritime economy, digital collaboration and the transition to green energy.
"By accelerating major project construction, investment during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030) is expected to approach 1 trillion yuan (145 billion U.S. dollars), driving a further 2 trillion yuan (290 billion U.S. dollars) of investment across upstream and downstream industries," said Dong Yanle, deputy general manager of the Engineering Construction Department under the China Southern Power Grid.
China ramps up power grid investment in January-March to boost growth
