New Year travel season sees passenger nosedive amid epidemic control

During the first three days of the Spring Festival travel rush, which kicked off on Thursday, the number of railway passenger trips dropped more than 70 percent compared with last year, China Railway Corp, the national railway operator, said on Sunday.

Transport authorities cut the forecast of passenger flow for the Spring Festival travel rush as strict anti-epidemic measures are adopted to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

On Thursday, Friday and Saturday, the national railway network handled 3.08 million, 2.83 million and 2.96 million passenger trips, respectively, about one-quarter of last year's passenger flow.

The company said on Sunday, the fourth day of the travel rush, 2.9 million passenger trips were expected to be made, a year-on-year decrease of 75 percent.

The railway regulators have carried out “non-touchable” measures to provide safer service to customers. Electronic tickets are used in most railway stations across the country. Online ordering of food is also provided and encouraged on board.

The 40-day travel rush, which started on Thursday and will end on March 8, is regarded as the world's largest annual human migration.

The Spring Festival holiday, which falls on Feb 12 this year, is China's most important holiday for family reunions. People usually gather to celebrate the weeklong festival.

This year, to curb the resurgence of the novel coronavirus, top authorities advised people not to travel and to celebrate the holiday where they work and live.