Rail authorities add more trains as holiday rush begins

As China's railway network is expected to handle 20.4 million passenger trips on Wednesday, the first day of the May Day holiday, the railway department plans to add more than 1,700 train on the day to cater to the travel surge, the national railway operator China State Railway Group said on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, China is scheduled to operate 12,803 train services, including 1,738 additional temporary services. On Tuesday, when many travelers began their holiday trip one day before the holiday, the railway network saw 16.42 million passenger trips, the company said. 

According to the 12306 ticket booking system, as of Wednesday morning, popular destinations and routes saw strong passenger flows. Those destinations include Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Chengdu. The popular routes include Beijing to Shanghai, Xi'an to Chengdu, and Guangzhou to Nanning.

The railway system is expected to see eight-day travel rush from Monday to May 6, and estimated a total of 144 million passenger trips during the travel rush, with an average of 18 million trips a day. Wednesday is projected to be the peak day for passenger flow.

More train services have been added to cater to passenger needs, with an average of 12,000 passenger trains operating every day, an increase of more than 1,800 train services compared to regular days.

Measures such as adding more high-speed sleeper trains, coupling multiple trains and attaching additional carriages to conventional passenger trains have been taken to promptly augment capacity in popular regions and routes, the group said.

The 12306 ticket booking platform will be used to monitor holiday passenger flow, giving service providers the flexibility to introduce more temporary passenger trains to meet demand.

Passengers who fail to buy train tickets can join a waiting list on the 12306 system, with more temporary trains to be added based on the waiting lists.