The passenger transportation during this year's Labor Day Holiday has started on April 28 and will end on March 7. It's the first golden week holiday following the sixth nationwide railway speed upgrade.

 

 

People pack into a railway station in southwest China's Chongqing, waiting to buy tickets. This year's Labor Day Holiday transportation phase started on April 28, and will end on March 7.

 

According to China News Service, the Ministry of Railways on Saturday emphasized, at a videophone meeting, that catering to the increasing needs of holidaymakers in China, railway departments should make good use of the newly-commissioned high speed trains, while also ensuring the safety.

 

The ministry revealed that more trains will be launched during the holiday. The country's new bullet trains, tickets for which went on sale a few days ago, are expected to increase the railway capacity.

 

The railway authority predicted that railway stations are going to handle some 44.5 million passengers from April 28 to March. 7, a rise of 8 percent year-on-year.

 

China is expected to see its passenger peak on Labor Day, with 5.1 million railway users. The return peak may come at the end of the week-long holiday on May 5 and May 6, after hundreds of thousands of visitors conclude their journeys, said the report.

 

 

People flock in front of a timetable board at a railway station in southwest China's Chongqing. This year's Labor Day Holiday transportation phase started on April 28, and will end on March 7.

 

(CRI April 29, 2007)