BEIJING: China’s annual Spring Festival travel rush, a major indicator of economic activity and social mobility, concluded on Tuesday with over 8.4 billion passenger trips taken, a significant increase from last year and marking several record highs.
The 40-day travel period saw a surge in travel demand fueled by a strong desire for family reunions and leisure trips. Compared to the same period in 2023, passenger trips soared by 78 percent.
The robust figures highlight the country’s economic vitality and the public’s eagerness to travel after pandemic restrictions were eased last year.
Both the railway and civil aviation sectors achieved record-breaking figures, with railways transporting 484 million passengers, and airplanes facilitating 83.4 million journeys, according to reports from the China State Railway Group and the Civil Aviation Administration of China.
China’s expanding railway network has made trains a preferred choice for long-distance travel. To accommodate the surge in passenger demand during the travel rush, the railway service provider added numerous passenger trains. China State Railway Group reported that passenger transportation capacity reached a record high, with daily operations of national railway passenger trains increasing by 18.5 percent compared to the same period in 2019. –The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
