Summer railway travel rush to handle over 1 billion passenger trips

China's annual summer railway travel rush will begin on Wednesday, with the national network expected to handle 1.01 billion passenger trips from July 1 to Aug 31, China State Railway Group announced on Tuesday.

The 62-day period is anticipated to see an average of 16.29 million passenger trips per day, driven by student travel, family visits, and tourism demand.

To manage the surge, railway authorities will add 480 inter-regional passenger trains and operate approximately 12,000 passenger trains daily. Extra capacity will be provided on popular routes through additional services, coupled high-speed trains, and longer conventional trains.

New lines and stations, including the Xi'an East-Shiyan East section of the Wuhan-Xi'an high-speed railway and Xi'an East Railway Station, will help support the expanded schedule.

The railway operator also stated it will improve passenger services and strengthen safety measures during the flood season.