Railways see big surge in summer trips

Passengers wait to board a train to Xishuangbanna Dai autonomous prefecture at Kunming Station in Yunnan province on Saturday. LIU RANYANG/CHINA NEWS SERVICE

China's summer travel season, which concluded on Saturday, saw record-breaking passenger numbers, China State Railway Group, the national railway operator, said on Sunday.

From July 1 to Aug 31, the railway network facilitated 887 million passenger trips, a 6.7 percent increase from last year.

The network saw an average of 14.31 million passenger trips per day, a new high for the summer season. From Aug 10 to 12, the system handled more than 16 million passengers each day.

The railway network also transported 670 million metric tons of freight in the past two months, maintaining robust freight operations, the group said.

This year's summer travel saw a surge in passengers, driven by university students leaving campuses, tourists, and travelers visiting family. To accommodate demand, the railway department optimized train schedules and expanded both high-speed and regular-speed train services. An average of 10,905 passenger trains operated each day — an increase of 636 trains, or 6.2 percent more than last year.

Railway authorities utilized data from the 12306 ticketing system to dynamically adjust operations, including adding extra trains and carriages, and running double sets of high-speed trains during peak times and on popular routes.

Cross-border passenger transport also saw significant growth. The China-Laos Railway handled 45,600 cross-border passengers, up 78.1 percent year-on-year, and the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong High-Speed Railway saw 5.18 million crossings, a year-on-year increase of 10.7 percent.

Service upgrades were also implemented to enhance travel experiences. The 12306 ticketing system introduced new features, including a service that allowed students to reserve tickets in advance for themselves and two companions. A total of 14.3 million student tickets were sold during the summer season.

In response to the increased number of child passengers, railway departments introduced several safety measures.

At Yingtan North Station in Jiangxi province, a "green channel" was established to streamline boarding for families. During peak times, staff members used handheld devices to pre-check documents for children and their guardians, issuing a "heartfelt sticker" to those who completed the process.

"Children and their guardians could use the heartfelt sticker to go directly through the green channel, ensuring safety while reducing waiting times for other passengers," said Jin Yawen, a ticketing officer at the station.

On the D2242 high-speed train from Fuzhou, Fujian province, to Chengdu, Sichuan province, wristbands designed to prevent children from getting lost were introduced. The wristbands, which included the parents' phone numbers and the child's seat number, were well-received.

"The wristbands are designed like watches, which children find appealing," said train conductor Li Mingxing. "They also help us quickly locate a child's parents if they get separated. Last month, we reunited seven lost children with their families."

Throughout the summer season, China Railway prioritized safety, particularly in response to natural disasters such as heavy rains and floods. Strict measures were implemented to inspect and maintain railway infrastructure, ensuring the safety and reliability of rail services, and emergency plans were promptly activated to address extreme weather conditions, minimizing the impact on railway operations.