8 things to know as Hubei railway services restart
2020-03-26
Editor's note: As the novel coronavirus has been largely brought under control in Central China's Hubei province, the hardest-hit region by the virus, Hubei resumed its railway transportation in a phased fashion starting on Wednesday after a two-month of suspension. On the same day, Bao Liqun, vice-general manager of China Railway Wuhan Group Co Ltd, answered several questions of common concern during a video interview with CCTV. Here are the questions and answers based on the interview.
Travelers take the train from Yichang, Central China's Hubei province, on March 25, 2020. Hubei, except Wuhan, is restarting 17 railway services beginning Wednesday. [Photo by Wu Yanling/chinadaily.com.cn]
1.
Q: On the first day of resuming railway services in Hubei, how many people left Hubei. How many entered by train?
A: A total of 266 trains travelled through Hubei on Wednesday, bringing over 8,000 passengers into the province and 23,600 out of it. The ratio is about one to three.
Passengers board a train at Jingmen Railway Station in Jingmen, Central China's Hubei province, on March 25, 2020. Railway services are beginning to resume in Central China's Hubei province. [Photo/Xinhua]
2.
Q: Will rider flow be put under control?
A: We are dynamically adjusting rail capacity based on online ticket sales. On March 26, the passenger volume will double the day before, so we are making more arrangements. For the moment, we can proactively adapt to the current situation.
A traveler scans a heath QR code after buying a train ticket in Yichang, Central China's Hubei province, on March 25, 2020. [Photo by Wu Yanling/chinadaily.com.cn]
3.
Q: What are the new requirements for passengers to take trains to travel passing through Hubei?
A: Passengers are required to wear masks. Their body temperatures and health QR codes should be checked before they enter and leave train stations. The dining car is closed to dine-in passengers but we provide a new service of delivering food to passengers' seats if they need it.
Passengers board a train at Qianjiang Railway Station in Qianjiang, Central China's Hubei province, March 25, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua]
4.
Q: Do train crew members need to be quarantined after they finish a round trip to Hubei?
A: For the safety of service on the train, we conducted nucleic acid tests for 650 attendants who serve on the train travelling passing through Hubei. They are not going to exit the train stops on the route and will move together with the train. So when they are back at places out of Hubei, they are safe and do not need to be quarantined.
A passenger buys train ticket at Jingmen Railway Station in Jingmen, Central China's Hubei province, on March 25, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua]
5.
Q: Will the trains leave some seats empty for passengers to sit separately?
A: We are making gradual adjustment. In general, not all the seats on the trains are available. Some seats are reserved for quarantine. Passengers can keep a certain distance from each other on the train according to the degree of occupancy. It's rather safe on the train.
People returning from Hubei arrive at the Beijing West Railway Station in Beijing, capital of China, on March 25, 2020. The first batch of over 800 people stranded in virus-hit Hubei province has arrived in Beijing Wednesday afternoon after Hubei lifted outbound travel restrictions in all areas except the capital city Wuhan starting from Wednesday. [Photo/Xinhua]
6.
Q: How many people stranded in Hubei need to go back to Beijing?
A: There are nearly 200,000 people stranded in Hubei who need to return to Beijing. We are making plans under the coordination of China State Railway Group. Today, two trains (G488 and G4838) were open to take them back. G488 is the first train heading for Beijing from Hubei after the lockdown. The Beijing government has worked with Hubei to run such trains since we need to get consent from Beijing for these passengers' return and make sure they are healthy. Today's return went well. It is the first day that we arranged come-back trains to Beijing, and there will be more in the following days.
Staff members of all districts of Beijing pick up people returning from Hubei at the Beijing West Railway Station in Beijing, capital of China, on March 25, 2020. The first batch of over 800 people stranded in virus-hit Hubei province has arrived in Beijing Wednesday afternoon after Hubei lifted outbound travel restrictions in all areas except the capital city Wuhan starting from Wednesday. [Photo/Xinhua]
7.
Q: Will the density of train trips be adjusted according to the rider flow?
A: We look closely at the waitlist of the 12306, the country's official train ticket-booking platform and aim to make sure 60 percent of the people on the waitlist can get on trains eventually. According to the number of people in the waiting line for a desired train ticket, we can decide how many extra trains we should run and their directions.
A high-speed train stops at Qianjiang Railway Station in Qianjiang, Central China's Hubei province, on March 25, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua]
8.
Q: Can college students in Hubei get a train ticket to go back to schools?
A: Wuhan has more than 1 million college students. To make sure they can return to schools is a major task for us in the next step. Now we are adding more intra-province trains to meet their needs. By March 28, part of the high-speed railways run within the province will be put into full operation. College students don't need to worry and they will get a ticket for sure.
