High-speed rail reshapes Chunyun
Print Edition
The Spring Festival travel rush, or Chunyun, is in full swing as families reunite for the traditional holiday in the world’s most populated country.
More than 3 billion trips are expected during the 40-day travel rush that started on January 10, posing a considerable challenge to the transport system.
As more cities are linked with the high-speed railway network and more technologies and services are introduced, a once slow and crowded journey is becoming an easier and cozier experience.
The word “Chunyun” first appeared in the 1980s when an increasing number of rural laborers flocked into big cities to find higher-paid jobs, but returned to their hometowns once a year to celebrate the Lunar New Year with their families.
Li Tengfei, a 25-year-old salesman working in Suzhou City in Jiangsu Province, is among the millions of passengers returning home.
This year, Li’s journey back home took half the time thanks to the operation of a high-speed railway line in his home city of Fuyang in eastern Anhui Province.
As a major labor export city, Fuyang has a total population of about 10.7 million, exporting about 3.5 million migrant workers to the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta and other developed regions.
In December 2019, the city was included in the high-speed rail network, witnessing the historic moment of all 16 prefecture-level cities in the province entering the era of high-speed trains.
“Compared with other transportation means, high-speed trains are more comfortable and punctual. It is the preferred choice for many passengers,” said a passenger surnamed Wei.
Another passenger, surnamed Chen, said: “I am getting married during the Spring Festival. It will be easier for my family and friends to visit me in Fuyang thanks to the high-speed train.”
According to the National Development and Reform Commission, around 440 million trips will be made via railway during the travel rush.
China plans to expand its high-speed rail network, already the world’s biggest, by adding 2,000 kilometers of new lines in 2020 to a total of 38,000km.
Transport authorities have also introduced new technologies and services to ensure a smooth and pleasant travel experience.
Instead of printing and collecting tickets at stations, passengers can now pass through ticket checks with just their ID cards and facial recognition.
“The e-ticket system has cut the ticket checking time by over 30 percent, efficiently relieving traffic congestion during the travel rush,” said Shan Xinghua, chief researcher of the China Academy of Railway Sciences.
A total of 1,020 stations had adopted the system by January 10.
Ticket booking is also more customer-friendly thanks to a series of improvements by 12306, the official online railway ticket-booking platform, including increasing its ticket capacity, extending daily work hours and introducing a waitlist function to improve booking efficiency.
And other new services such as food ordering and seat selection are now available on the booking platform to make traveling more comfortable.
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