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Railway workers set to keep the festival spirit
January 12, 2009, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
TANG Jincheng strolled into the Hangzhou Northern Railway Station at daybreak yesterday to check if the air conditioner in the waiting room was working, and if extra tents should be set up to keep travelers warm.
"Many of them wait overnight for a train ticket home," said Tang, head of the station. The temperature has dropped to minus 2 degrees Celsius in the eastern city.
Tang is among 2 million railway workers in the world's most populous nation, who need to work long and hard in the 40 days to come: China expects 2.32 billion passenger trips during the holiday rush before and after the traditional Spring Festival, which falls on January 26 this year.
That is nearly three times Europe's population.
The Ministry of Railways estimated 188 million of these journeys would be train trips, an average of 4.7 million daily.
Yesterday, the first day of the six-week holiday rush, the Hangzhou Northern Railway Station expected at least 10,000 passengers. Tang's job is to ensure every one of them a safe trip home.
For most Chinese, a train ticket during the annual holiday rush is one of the hardest-won commodities. The Ministry of Railways has promised to ease the bottleneck by 2012 but many people question "how?"
Railway Minister Liu Zhijun has projected a "historic change" in 2012 when intensive investment will extend the track mileage to 110,000 kilometers, including 13,000 kilometers of passenger lines on which trains can run at 200-350km/h.
Photos taken at ticket outlets, showing travelers waiting in line, wrapping themselves up with quilts or sleeping on the floor, have been placed on major Chinese Websites for two weeks. The global financial crisis did send some migrant workers home in advance ?? Beijing Railway Station claimed its holiday rush actually started on January 1.
"I have to make the trip home. How can I keep working when my parents and children are waiting for me?" said Gou Dongyou, a migrant worker from Henan Province.
"Many of them wait overnight for a train ticket home," said Tang, head of the station. The temperature has dropped to minus 2 degrees Celsius in the eastern city.
Tang is among 2 million railway workers in the world's most populous nation, who need to work long and hard in the 40 days to come: China expects 2.32 billion passenger trips during the holiday rush before and after the traditional Spring Festival, which falls on January 26 this year.
That is nearly three times Europe's population.
The Ministry of Railways estimated 188 million of these journeys would be train trips, an average of 4.7 million daily.
Yesterday, the first day of the six-week holiday rush, the Hangzhou Northern Railway Station expected at least 10,000 passengers. Tang's job is to ensure every one of them a safe trip home.
For most Chinese, a train ticket during the annual holiday rush is one of the hardest-won commodities. The Ministry of Railways has promised to ease the bottleneck by 2012 but many people question "how?"
Railway Minister Liu Zhijun has projected a "historic change" in 2012 when intensive investment will extend the track mileage to 110,000 kilometers, including 13,000 kilometers of passenger lines on which trains can run at 200-350km/h.
Photos taken at ticket outlets, showing travelers waiting in line, wrapping themselves up with quilts or sleeping on the floor, have been placed on major Chinese Websites for two weeks. The global financial crisis did send some migrant workers home in advance ?? Beijing Railway Station claimed its holiday rush actually started on January 1.
"I have to make the trip home. How can I keep working when my parents and children are waiting for me?" said Gou Dongyou, a migrant worker from Henan Province.
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