China braces for holiday travel peak

Passengers are waiting to get on the train at Beijing West Railway Station, Jan 25, 2014. [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING - The number of Chinese passengers is expected to top 100 million a day during the next few days as the week-long Spring Festival holiday approaches, the Ministry of Transport (MOT) said on Sunday.

"We forecast that travelers on roads and waterways on Sunday will reach more than 99 million and one million respectively," said MOT spokesman Liang Xiaoan.

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Spring Festival, or Chinese Lunar New Year, is the country's most important traditional holiday for family reunions. China's transport system will be put to the test during "Chunyun", the 40-day travel period around the festival, which falls on January 31.

A total of 860,000 coaches have begun journeys already, and during the weekend, trains have been increased to 5,000, carrying an average 6.8 million passengers each day, according to the ministry.

The MOT told local transport authorities to boost efforts to organize transportation and ensure sufficient vehicles are available.

It also ordered local authorities to make sure of safety during "Chunyun" by improving the supervision of transportation companies, bus stations and ports.

For air transportation, the civil aviation authorities forecast that on Sunday more than 14,000 flights will carry more than 1.2 million passengers.