Yangtze River Delta railway expects to handle over 100 million passenger trips during Spring Festival

SHANGHAI, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Yangtze River Delta railway network is projected to handle over 100 million passenger trips during the 2026 Spring Festival travel season, marking the first time it will hit this milestone, according to China Railway Shanghai Group.

The annual 40-day travel rush, which runs from early February to mid-March this year, is expected to witness 103 million passenger trips on this railway, a 4-percent increase compared to 2025.

To cope with the passenger surge, railway authorities will add 437.5 pairs of trains based on the peak operation schedule, with daily train services surpassing 1,700 pairs during high-demand periods.

The Yangtze River Delta region, which covers Shanghai Municipality and the provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui, all in east China, is one of China's most economically dynamic, open and innovative areas, playing a key role in national development and driving high transportation demand.

Passenger flow trends during the Spring Festival travel rush typically show high travel enthusiasm, with migrant workers tending to head home early to destinations like Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan and Chongqing, all in southwestern China, ahead of the festival.

Student travel flows, meanwhile, largely fall outside peak periods before the festival, but tend to overlap with other travel streams after the holiday. ■