Beijing West Railway Station, the capital's largest station, has
reported a peak passenger flow three weeks before the Spring Festival with 110,000 travelers leaving
on Saturday.
Most of the passengers were college students on their winter
vacation and migrants workers returning home for Spring Festival,
according to a station official.
Passenger numbers have been rising and the station has seen an
average 100,000 departures per day since Wednesday, 20 percent up
year-on-year. The station has arranged 13 extra trains to ease the
traffic pressure.
The official said the extra trains should be able to accommodate
all travelers and tickets were being sold 10 days in advance.
The Ministry of Railways announced on Jan. 10 that railway
ticket prices would not be raised during the Spring Festival period
this year. The news has been widely welcomed by the public.
During the past Spring Festival travel season, fares for
ordinary hard seats increased 15 percent while those for other
seats went up 20 percent.
Beijing's railway stations have opened group ticket-booking
offices for migrant workers in large construction companies and
have set up ticket sales desks at colleges.
Stations have also opened 24-hour ticket sales windows.
Passengers should be quick to arrange their travel as the fare
freeze might attract more travelers, according to railway
officials.
The Gaungzhou Railway Station, in the capital of southern
Guangdong Province, has also reported a large number of travelers
on Saturday with more than 90,000 departures, dramatically up from
the usual 70,000.
"Saturday and Sunday will be the high time for the collage
students to return home and we have prepared 28 special trains for
students," said Zhang Xueke, head of the railway station.
The Ministry of Railways estimates that China's railways will
transport an unprecedented 156 million passengers during the 40-day
Spring Festival travel peak from Feb. 3 to March 14, up 4.3 percent
year-on-year.
Passenger flows will be concentrated in Beijing and Guangzhou
during the first 15 days and in Chengdu, Chongqing, Wuhan, Nanchang
and Hefei during the remaining 25 days.
The peak is expected to come after the lunar New Year's Day,
which falls on Feb. 18 this year, when college students begin to
return to school and migrant workers set out for big cities.
(Xinhua News Agency January 28, 2007)