Spring rush to get home will be the biggest yet
By Zha Minjie |
December 28, 2012, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
NEXT year's Spring Festival travel rush is again expected to be a record-breaker, according to the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top planning agency.
Each year, Chinese people make billions of trips for family reunions during China's biggest holiday, which begins on February 9, and the numbers have been increasing every year.
The commission says that the number of passenger trips by bus, train, plane and ship is estimated to reach more than 3.4 billion during the 40-day rush, described as the world's "biggest annual migration," that will begin on January 26.
Getting home is particularly important as it is often the only chance during the year that many families can get together, sometimes after a gap of several years.
The commission says the estimated figure represents an 8.6 percent increase compared to the rush earlier this year.
The road network is expected to be under the most pressure with 3.1 billion people, an increase of 9 percent, heading home. Railway trips are next with a 4.6 percent rise to 225 million.
Meanwhile, trips by boat and by plane are predicted to increase by 1.5 percent and 5.2 percent respectively to reach 43.08 million and 35.5 million.
Railway stations have begun to take group ticket bookings from migrant workers and students.
However, the rush is already taking its toll.
The railway authority's only online ticket booking website broke down twice this week.
The website, www.12306.cn, saw its latest glitch on Wednesday morning when the site was inaccessible due to "the air-conditioning breakdown at computer rooms." The same problem first hit the site two days earlier.
Would-be rail travelers expressed concern that they might not get their tickets in time if there were any other system failures.
Railway operators said passengers could go to ticket booths at stations or other ticket outlets or phone the hotline, 12306.
Railway authorities have also been reminding passengers about the real-name policy in operation across the country where passengers have to produce ID cards, passports or other forms of identification with their tickets at checkpoints before boarding trains.
Each year, Chinese people make billions of trips for family reunions during China's biggest holiday, which begins on February 9, and the numbers have been increasing every year.
The commission says that the number of passenger trips by bus, train, plane and ship is estimated to reach more than 3.4 billion during the 40-day rush, described as the world's "biggest annual migration," that will begin on January 26.
Getting home is particularly important as it is often the only chance during the year that many families can get together, sometimes after a gap of several years.
The commission says the estimated figure represents an 8.6 percent increase compared to the rush earlier this year.
The road network is expected to be under the most pressure with 3.1 billion people, an increase of 9 percent, heading home. Railway trips are next with a 4.6 percent rise to 225 million.
Meanwhile, trips by boat and by plane are predicted to increase by 1.5 percent and 5.2 percent respectively to reach 43.08 million and 35.5 million.
Railway stations have begun to take group ticket bookings from migrant workers and students.
However, the rush is already taking its toll.
The railway authority's only online ticket booking website broke down twice this week.
The website, www.12306.cn, saw its latest glitch on Wednesday morning when the site was inaccessible due to "the air-conditioning breakdown at computer rooms." The same problem first hit the site two days earlier.
Would-be rail travelers expressed concern that they might not get their tickets in time if there were any other system failures.
Railway operators said passengers could go to ticket booths at stations or other ticket outlets or phone the hotline, 12306.
Railway authorities have also been reminding passengers about the real-name policy in operation across the country where passengers have to produce ID cards, passports or other forms of identification with their tickets at checkpoints before boarding trains.
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