Railway ridership increases over Chinese New Year

The Yangtze River Delta region recorded more than 4 million railway trips during the seven-day Spring Festival holiday, 10 percent more than last year, China Railway Shanghai Group officials said today.

Ridership peaked yesterday when almost 1.1 million trips were made, almost 70 percent more than last year.

A total of 198 additional trains were put into operation across the region during the holiday to accommodate the passenger surge.

The number of short-distance trips hit 3.55 million, up 31.4 percent from last year, while long-distance trips declined 48.3 percent as a result of the pandemic.

Since chunyun — the annual Spring Festival travel rush — began on January 28, more than 14 million railway trips have been recorded in the region.

An estimated 1.15 million railway trips will be made in the region today.