Rail authority reminds passengers to allow time for travel, security checks
Passengers at Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station in Shanghai.
The railway authority has reminded passengers to make proper arrangements for their travel and reserve enough time for local traffic and security checks during the holiday rush.
Shanghai's railway stations sent off about 650,000 passengers on Wednesday, the first day of the five-day May Day holiday. Among them, 358,000 holiday-goers left Shanghai for their destination via the Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station, 198,000 via Shanghai Railway Station, and 81,000 from the Shanghai South Railway Station, the three major railway hubs in the city.
Eighty-nine trains were added on Wednesday to handle the huge numbers of passengers heading to popular tourist destinations such as Anhui and Jiangxi provinces, taking the total number of trains departing Shanghai to 729.
A train crew member sticks an info card with the carriage number on a girl.
The railways in the Yangtze River Delta region have been busy with the holiday rush since Monday. They set off more than 9.6 million passengers in total from Monday to Wednesday, including over 3.7 million on Wednesday which was a record high for a single-day volume.
Another 3.6 million are expected to depart from the region by train on Thursday.
Railway authorities in the region said they will adapt operation plans accordingly to handle the increasing travel demand from the public, adding carriages or trains if necessary.
They have arranged more staff to serve passengers but also reminded people to leave more time for transportation in the city and security checks.
Some trains also offer medicines, sewing kits, mobile phone recharging equipment, cartoon books, and toys in attempt to make the travel more comfortable, authorities said.
