Travel rush train ticket sales surge

BEIJING - The China Railway Corporation said on Sunday that an average of 7.43 million train tickets have been sold a day since fares went on sale for the upcoming Spring Festival travel rush, with this figure up 20.3 percent year on year.

According to the corporation, 148.58 million tickets for travel in the 40-day travel rush around the Spring Festival had been sold by Saturday, since these tickets became available on December 23.

Passengers can buy train tickets online or by telephone.

China's official ticket-booking website www.12306.cn had sold 3.59 million train tickets per day up to Saturday, with a growth of 57 percent from a year ago.

The Spring Festival, or China's lunar new year, is the country's most important traditional holiday for family reunions. Most people will go home for the festival, putting great pressure on the country's transportation system.

The coming Spring Festival falls on January 31. This year's travel rush, literally translated as "spring transportation," is expected to last from January 16 to February 24.

People can book tickets for trains 25 days before the travel date via the Internet or telephone, while train stations and train ticket agencies begin to sell the tickets 23 days ahead.