China runs more trains to meet travel demand

BEIJING -- As Chinese New Year celebrations approach, China Railway Corporation (CRC) announced plans on Thursday to run 1,120 more trains, bringing the total to 6,400 to cope with the travel rush.

The 40-day travel frenzy is known as "Chunyun", the hectic period surrounding Chinese New Year which falls this year on Feb. 19. Chunyun will begin on Feb 4 and last until March 16, but many thousands of people have already begun their trek.

Chinese New Year celebrations, known as Spring Festival, are China's most important family holiday, with hundreds of millions of people heading for their hometowns to touch base with relatives and old friends, putting huge stress on transportation system.

Chinese people have never been more affluent and keen to travel, nor have there ever been more migrant workers in cities far from home, so every year, the stress on the transportation system becomes greater and greater, despite great improvements in infrastructure over the last few years.

The transport networks - road, rail, aviation and waterways - have set new highs for chunyun numbers almost every year recently. In 2015, a total of 2.8 billion trips are expected.

Railways are expected to see a rise of 10 percent in passenger trips year on year, a greater rise than any other transport options.