|
 Crowds gather in the waiting area at the main long-distance bus station in Jinan city, Shandong province, on Oct 1. The day saw a record number of people make their connections via trains, buses and planes. [Photo/Xinhua] |
BEIJING - A new daily record for passengers traveling by train was set on Oct 1, driven by the Golden Week traffic rush and the nation's greater railway transportation capacity, railway authorities said on Saturday.
The Ministry of Railways (MOR) said a record 8.3 million passengers traveled by train on Friday, smashing the previous record of 7.1 million, which occurred on May 1 during the Labor Day holiday.
This year, the peak period for rail travel, the National Day holiday, falls between Oct 1 and Oct 7. From Sept 28 to Oct 1, more than 24 million people in China traveled by train, up 10.3 percent compared with the same period last year, the ministry said.
The railway authority undertook a number of emergency measures to manage the surge in passenger numbers. In mid-September, the MOR announced that 34 pairs of temporary direct trains would run to all major cities during the week-long National Day holiday. Additional high-speed trains were also put into use on peak days to carry more passengers commuting between key tourist cities.
China has 7,055 kilometers of high-speed railway in service, which is the world's longest, He Huawu, MOR's chief engineer told Xinhua.
The Wuhan-Guangzhou line, one of the world's fastest high-speed railways, linking Central and South China, reportedly carried more than 100,000 passengers on Oct 1, a new record.
"Taking fast trains to make a trip is safe, convenient and comfortable. It helps save time traveling and seamlessly connects with other means of transportation," said a representative of Guangzhou South Railway Station during an interview with Xinhua.
"The high-speed railway is very popular during Golden Week," he added.
More high-speed rail lines will help increase transport capacity and allow more Chinese to travel nationwide during the weeklong holidays, the ministry said.
By 2012, China will have a railway network of 110,000 kilometers, 13,000 kilometers of which will be high-speed rail, according to the ministry.
China Daily - Xinhua |
