Special delivery for Spring Festival
A SPECIAL high-speed train for more than 400 express delivery workers left Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station yesterday afternoon to take them home for free for the Spring Festival, a time of family reunion.
The passengers are from delivery companies such as ZTO Express, YTO Express, STO Express, Yunda and Best Express, along with their family members.
The trip was sponsored by Alibaba’s logistics affiliate Cainiao Network and jointly launched by the Shanghai branch of China Railway and the Shanghai Postal Administration.
The train’s destination was Bozhou South Station in east China’s Anhui Province, home to many of Shanghai’s delivery workers.
“The hard work of delivery staff makes life more convenient and we hope they can enjoy a happy New Year with their families,” said Yu Hongwei, deputy director of the Shanghai Postal Administration.
Zheng Changbing, a courier from STO Express, has been in Shanghai for over 20 years since he left his home in Shouxian County, Anhui Province, as a teenager.
A former construction worker, he started working as an express deliveryman in 2004. He delivers parcels in the Wujiaochang area of Yangpu District.
“I live alone in Shanghai. My wife and son are in our hometown for his studies,” said Zheng.
“Because of busy work, I can only return home during big festivals and I’m very homesick.”
He usually takes long-distance buses back to his family and the trip can take over 10 hours.
But this time, he arrived home just in time for dinner yesterday after a four-hour trip.
“Last year, I failed to get a ticket and had to take my friend’s car back home,” said Yang Weifeng, a Henan Province native.
“I’m happy to have a much easier and faster journey, which takes only four hours by train this time.”
Yang will board a bus in Bozhou to complete his homeward journey.
“It’s even harder for express delivery workers to grab tickets for family reunions during the Spring Festival, because the period before the festival is the busiest time of the year for them,” said Zhang Lu from Cainiao Network, who is leading the project.
“The destination is Anhui Province. Based on our big data analysis we found that the percentage of delivery workers from Anhui is high,” he said.
Guo Shouzhong, a courier from Yunda in his 30s, said:
“It’s very difficult to secure a ticket home and I could not believe it when I heard the news.
“My children and wife are waiting for me.
“And I cannot wait to go home.”
He plans to return to Shanghai on January 31.
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