China's 2025 Railway Spring Festival Travel Rush: 510 Million Passengers Expected, National Railway Group Enhances Service Guarantees

Cloud Tech 2025-01-14 11:20:27 Source: Network

China's 2025 Railway Spring Festival Travel Rush: 510 Million Passengers Expected, National Railway Group Enhances Service GuaranteesThe 2025 railway Spring Festival travel rush (Chunyun) will officially begin on January 14th and conclude on February 22nd, lasting 40 days. According to China State Railway Group Co

The 2025 railway Spring Festival travel rush (Chunyun) will officially begin on January 14th and conclude on February 22nd, lasting 40 days. According to China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. (National Railway Group), an estimated 510 million passenger trips are expected nationwide, averaging 12.75 million passengers per day. This Chunyun is the first following an eight-day Spring Festival holiday, the full relaxation of visa-free transit policies, and the successful application for Spring Festival inclusion in UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list. Passenger travel demand is expected to see steady growth, particularly a surge in student, migrant worker, and family reunion travel before the holiday, creating peak passenger flows. To ensure safe, orderly, and comfortable travel for passengers during the Spring Festival travel rush, the National Railway Group has implemented a series of comprehensive measures, aiming for a "safe, orderly, and warm Chunyun" to provide passengers with a better travel experience.

I. Increased Passenger Capacity to Meet Surging Demand

To cope with the upcoming peak passenger flow, the National Railway Group has made significant efforts in capacity deployment. In 2024, a number of new high-speed rail lines, including the Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou and Jidda-Dayuan lines, went into operation, adding over 3,000 kilometers to the national railway network, significantly improving connectivity and coverage. Before the Spring Festival travel rush, the national railway system deployed 185 newly built CRH380A high-speed trains (capable of 350 km/h), effectively expanding transport capacity.

Leveraging new lines, stations, and equipment, as well as the advantages of a nationwide high-speed rail network, the National Railway Group implemented a new Spring Festival train timetable starting at 00:00 on January 14th. This timetable further increases passenger capacity based on the first-quarter timetable, adding temporary passenger trains on popular routes and sections with high passenger concentration. Night-time high-speed rail services have also been increased between cities such as Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Nanjing, and Hangzhou to Chengdu, Chongqing, Wuhan, and Nanchang, as well as between Beijing and Shenyang, Taiyuan, etc. The national railway will operate over 14,000 passenger trains daily, adding 500,000 seats daily, representing a roughly 4% year-on-year increase in seating capacity.

To facilitate cross-border passenger flow and the development of tourism economies across the country, the National Railway Group has strengthened cross-border passenger transport organization and launched multiple tourist trains. Furthermore, the National Railway Group will dynamically analyze pre-sale ticket and standby ticket data from the 12306 platform to promptly add trains in popular directions, sections, and time periods, striving to scientifically match transport capacity with travel demand. Meanwhile, the scale of conventional speed passenger train operations will be maintained, continuing to operate public service "slow trains" and "rural revitalization" passenger trains to facilitate travel for people in remote areas.

II. Enhanced Ticketing Experience for a Convenient and Efficient Process

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The National Railway Group is committed to providing passengers with a more convenient and efficient ticketing experience. They are making full use of the 12306 platform's standby ticket purchase, online seat selection, and ticket-on-sale reminder subscription functions, and are promoting comprehensive digital passenger electronic invoicing services. They are also further optimizing pre-filled ticketing information services and piloting the "automatic submission of ticket orders" function to continuously improve passenger ticketing efficiency and experience.

To better serve key groups such as students and migrant workers, the railway department has launched student and migrant worker appointment ticketing functions and optimized the issuance and verification rules for student discount tickets to ensure the travel needs of these groups. In addition, they are scientifically formulating ticketing strategies, strengthening real-time monitoring of remaining tickets and standby orders, dynamically adjusting ticket allocation mechanisms, and comprehensively considering the travel needs of both originating and transit passengers to maximize the guarantee of passenger travel needs.

To ease the economic burden on passengers, the railway department offers discounted fares for passenger trains during less busy periods and directions, with discounts on conventional speed trains up to 20% and high-speed trains up to 30%, offering passengers greater savings.

III. Improved Station and Train Services for a Comfortable and Warm Travel Environment

The National Railway Group has also implemented comprehensive upgrades to station and train services. They are dynamically increasing security check channels, rationally setting passenger entry and exit routes and waiting areas, and increasing staff at key locations to guide passengers to board and alight safely and orderly. They are implementing key passenger transport service rules, improving online and offline response efficiency, setting up green channels, mother-and-baby waiting rooms, and station medical points at major passenger stations, and providing green channels for the elderly, children, the sick, the disabled, pregnant women, and passengers arriving within 15 minutes of train departure.

To improve the in-transit passenger experience, the railway department has added charging facilities at major passenger stations, expanded the coverage of the Railway Easy Travel Code to all high-speed trains, enabled convenient transfers at 120 stations nationwide, and expanded "quiet carriage" services to 92 high-speed trains. They are also enriching the variety of food and beverage supplies, providing internet ordering services at 84 stations nationwide, and expanding the range of stations offering refrigerated meal services to provide passengers with diverse dining options. In addition, they use 12306 SMS and WeChat information notification channels to accurately push dynamic information about subways and buses in some cities to passengers, facilitating convenient transfers.

IV. Fostering a Civilized Travel Environment and Promoting a Harmonious Atmosphere

To create a civilized and harmonious travel environment, the National Railway Group is widely carrying out "My Railway Scenery" and civilized travel themed publicity activities, collecting "The Road Home, the Most Beautiful Scenery" photo and video works, and jointly building a civilized, healthy, warm, and harmonious Chunyun travel environment with passengers. They are increasing the intensity of volunteer services, adding volunteer service personnel at key stations with high passenger flow to provide civilized guidance, service inquiries, and assistance. At the same time, they are cooperating with railway public security to promptly dissuade uncivilized behaviors such as seat grabbing and loud noise, maintaining good passenger order. During the Spring Festival and Lantern Festival, some stations and trains will hold rich cultural and artistic activities such as "Sending Ten Thousand Blessings to Ten Thousand Homes" and "Train Spring Festival Gala" to widely disseminate Spring Festival culture and create a joyful and harmonious festival atmosphere.

V. Guaranteeing Key Material Transportation to Support Stable Economic Operation

In addition to passenger transport, the National Railway Group will also fully guarantee the transport of key materials. They will leverage the advantages of centralized and unified railway dispatching and command, fully utilize the capacity of major freight channels such as the Daqin, Wari, Haoji, and Lanzhou-Xinjiang lines, vigorously operate 10,000-ton heavy-load trains, optimize the loading structure, and fully guarantee the transport of key materials related to national economy and people's livelihood such as grain, spring ploughing, and festival supplies, increasing the intensity of coal supply for power generation and heating to ensure that the coal reserves directly supplied by railways to power plants remain stable at over 20 days, providing strong support for the stable operation of the national economy and the warm winter of the people.

The National Railway Group will also proactively connect with the logistics market demand during the Spring Festival travel rush, proactively integrate into enterprise supply chains, optimize freight supply, and enhance the ability to ensure smooth operations, helping to reduce the overall logistics costs of society. They will continue to operate well the China-Europe freight trains and the western land-sea new channel trains to ensure the stability and smooth flow of international industrial and supply chains.

VI. Ensuring Safe and Smooth Railway Operations to Build a Solid Safety Operation Defense Line

Safety is paramount in railway transport. The National Railway Group adheres to the principle of "people first, life first," fully implementing various safety measures to ensure the safe travel of passengers. They strengthen the inspection and maintenance of railway catenary systems, turnouts, locomotives, vehicles, communication signals, and other key railway facilities, strengthen the control of key safety aspects and fire management, and ensure railway operation safety and transport order. They actively prevent and respond to low-temperature rain, snow, and ice disasters, taking proactive preventive measures, proactively avoiding safety risks, and promptly organizing cadres and staff to clear snow and ice to ensure the safe and smooth operation of the railway arteries.

The National Railway Group strictly implements the 24-hour duty system for key positions, prepares emergency duty personnel, equipment, and spare parts, reserves diesel locomotives and rescue personnel on major railway lines and hubs, strengthens emergency drills for various emergency scenarios, and ensures that emergency preparedness is in place. At the same time, they increase the intensity of security checks at stations to prevent prohibited and restricted items from entering stations and boarding trains.

Conclusion

The 2025 railway Spring Festival travel rush faces unprecedented challenges and opportunities. Through a series of preparatory works, the National Railway Group strives to provide passengers with a safe, convenient, comfortable, and warm travel

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