China's mass transit in high gear as Spring Festival travel rush starts
2020-01-10
A policeman and a police dog patrol the square in front of Beijing Railway Station on Jan 10. [Photo by Wang Jing/chinadaily.com.cn]
BEIJING -- China, the world's most populated country, on Friday ushered in its largest annual migration, 15 days ahead of the Spring Festival, or the Lunar New Year.
There will be three billion trips during the travel rush from Jan 10 to Feb 18 for family reunions and travel, slightly up from that of last year, according to a forecast from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
NDRC predicted an 8-percent growth in train trips, 8.4-percent increase in air trips and 9.6-percent hike in waterway trips.
The 40-day travel rush is known as chunyunin Chinese. The Lunar New Year falls on Jan 25 this year, earlier than previous years, which brings a bigger challenge to the transport system as the return trips of college students overlap with the travel rush.
Over 300 million train tickets have been sold for the Spring Festival travel rush after the presale started on Dec 12, 2019, said China's railway operator.
Passengers pose with an air hostess on a flight from Beijing to Guangzhou on Jan 10. [Photo by Zou Hong/chinadaily.com.cn]
NEW TRANSPORT MEANS EASE TRAFFIC
With the operation of a new airport and several new high-speed railways, travel through China's capital city of Beijing has become more convenient.
Statistics from the North China subsidiary of the Air Traffic Management Bureau of China Civil Aviation Administration suggest that during the Spring Festival, the Beijing Daxing International Airport, which became operational in October 2019, will take the pressure off the Beijing Capital International Airport.
The Beijing Capital International Airport has planned 65,200 flights during the travel rush, down by 4 percent from last year. The Daxing International Airport will have 11,200 flights during the period. The two airports' combined number of flights will increase by 7 percent over the total number of flights via Beijing during the Spring Festival last year.
Flights to hot domestic destinations from the Beijing Capital International Airport are northeast Chinese cities famous for ice and snow tourism and southern vacation cities which enjoy warm weather in winter. While Japan and Southeast Asian countries are popular destinations for outbound tourists.
Passengers get on a bus at Beigang bus station in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning province, on Jan 10. [Photo by Liu Debin/for chinadaily.com.cn]
The Daxing International Airport mainly handles flights to hot domestic tourist destinations during the Spring Festival travel rush, including Chengdu, Guangzhou, Zhanjiang, Sanya, Kunming and Lijiang cities. More than 1.9 million passenger trips are expected via the airport during the period.
In addition to the new air hub, the Spring Festival travel rush is also the first major test for the high-speed railway service connecting Beijing and Zhangjiakou, which has been in operation for only 20 days.
The railway linking the co-host cities of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics boasts China's latest achievements in railway development from equipment manufacturing and new materials to new artificial intelligence technology. Zhangjiakou is now a hot winter sports destination. The railway received 200,000 passengers in the first 10 days of operation.
The train service reduces the travel time between Beijing and Zhangjiakou from over three hours to 47 minutes.
Passengers check in at Beijing West Railway Station on Jan 10. [Photo by Feng Yongbin/chinadaily.com.cn]
Two passengers hug goodbye in front of Beijing Railway Station on Jan 10. [Photo by Wang Jing/chinadaily.com.cn]
Passengers carry luggage to Beijing West Railway Station on Jan 10. [Photo by Feng Yongbin/chinadaily.com.cn]
A passenger holding a chair heads to Nanjing Railway Station on Jan 10. [Photo by Liu Jianhua/for chinadaily.com.cn]
A passenger carrying luggage heads to Huizhou Railway Station in Anhui province on Jan 10. [Photo by Liu Qinli/for chinadaily.com.cn]
Passengers wait to board their trains at Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station on Jan 10. [Photo by Yin Liqin/for chinadaily.com.cn]
High-speed trains wait to run during the Spring Festival travel rush in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province, on Jan 10. [Photo by Su Yang/for chinadaily.com.cn]
