Since Friday and for the next 40-odd days, an average of about 45 million people will be on the move throughout China each day, transport authorities have predicted.

China's annual peak travel season officially began on Friday, with the number of passenger journeys expected to top 1.8 billion, up 3.7 per cent over last year.

Known as the Spring Travel season, it concludes on February 25, with the peak time occurring immediately before and after the Spring Festival.

The Chinese Lunar New Year falls on February 1 and it is the most important festival for the reunion of Chinese family members.

Spring season travellers consist mainly of migrant workers, students on winter holidays, professionals and an increasing number of tourists.

Transport authorities estimate that 130 million passenger journeys will occur by train during the period, averaging 3.25 million people per day, which is 1.66 million people more compared to the same period last year, said Hu Yadong, director of the Transport Bureau of China's Ministry of Railways.

The ministry has drawn up three contingency plans for the travel period, which include the operation of 210 additional trains for increased passengers, Hu said.

The Ministry of Communications predicts China's highways and waterways will cater for 1.66 billion and 24 million passenger journeys respectively.

Hu Xijie, vice-minister of communications, said his administration and public security departments had stepped up security supervision on the nation's highways and water transport routes.

Four special spot inspection teams -- headed by top traffic leaders -- will tour the nation during the period to randomly conduct transport security checks, while a detailed telephone number list of local administrations was released for passengers to praise or complain about services or overloading.

The General Administration of Civil Aviation of China said 8.7 million passengers are expected to travel by plane during the period, up 4 per cent compared to last year.

Ten major Chinese airlines have arranged 5,169 additional and charter flights to meet the huge demand from the travelling public.

As the major domestic transfer centres, transport departments in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu had long prepared for the peak period.

Beijing West Railway Station has stopped the sales of platform tickets during the period to keep platforms from overcrowding.

To secure comfort in train cabins, the station posed a 20-kilogram limit on suitcases. Passengers whose single suitcase surpasses the limit will have to place them in cargo cabins.

The Shanghai Railway Bureau added 186 temporary ticket-sales booths around the station to meet passenger demand. Guangzhou and Zhengzhou railways helped students and temporary labourers book tickets in advance.

In Chengdu, the most important transport hub of the populous Sichuan Province, Southwest China, the Chengdu Railway Station has decided to send staff to counties and townships to sell tickets directly to migrant workers after the Spring Festival, when they plan to return to the big cities. The province is home to most of China's transient workers,

The Chengdu Railway Bureau will also arrange 100 extra trains to handle the peak this year.

(China Daily January 18, 2003)