The Ministry of Railways said Sunday that it is expecting about 64 million people to travel by train during a 11-day period from the end of this month till Oct. 8, as many have to rely on the rail lines for their trips during the imminent 8-day holidays.

Chinese will enjoy eight days off, from Oct. 1 to Oct. 8, for the National Day and the Mid-Autumn Festival, the latter a traditional occasion dedicated to family reunion.

The estimated number of travelers would represent an increase of 9.3 percent over the same period last year, said Wang Yongping, the ministry spokesperson.

Wang said Oct. 1 would embrace a peak of 6.9 million passengers, who are either visiting families and friends or touring around the country.

The ministry is planning to arrange 33 pairs of additional passenger trains a day on the existing service routes for major cities and tourist sites and extend the service routes of two pairs of trains daily to meet the extra demand during the 11-day period, said Wang.

The ministry would also arrange 39 pairs of additional trains every day to hot tourist destinations such as cities of Zhangjiajie, Guilin, Shenzhen and Kunming, two pairs more than the same period last year, according to Wang.

(Xinhua News Agency September 20, 2009)