BEIJING: The transport sector is working hard to implement updated COVID-19 management and ensure smooth and efficient transport services during the Spring Festival travel rush, according to the Ministry of Transport.
This year’s 40-day rush began on Saturday and will end on Feb 15. It is the first since China optimized COVID-19 management and eased restrictions on travel.
According to estimates from the Ministry of Transport, about 2.1 billion passenger trips are expected to be made during the period, an incredible year-on-year increase of 99.5 percent.
On Saturday, the first day of the rush, 34.74 million passenger trips were made across China, a year-on-year increase of 38.9 percent compared with the same period last year, and up 11.1 percent compared to last month, according to the Ministry of Transport.
But the number was still 48.6 percent lower than the same period in 2019, prior to the pandemic.
Among them, 6.02 million were made on the railway network, and 27.35 million, 392,000 and 976,000 trips were made by road, water and air respectively.
On Saturday, more than two weeks ahead of the Spring Festival, which falls on Jan 22, Qin Zhishuai took the first bullet train leaving Beijing at 5:34 am heading for Handan in neighboring Hebei province.
As an intensive care nurse, he and his colleagues plan to stagger their holidays to ensure there is enough staff at the hospital and that everyone can enjoy a holiday and have a break. “We plan on three holiday leave ‘shifts’ — before, during and after the Spring Festival. I am in the ‘before’ group,” he said, adding that he will return to work before the festival to carry on helping patients.
–The Daily Mail-China Daily news exchange item
