In the 2026 Spring Festival travel rush, multiple railway passenger and freight transport indicators reached new all-time highs for the same period.

　　People's Daily Online Beijing, March 17 (Reporter Wang Lianxiang) On March 13, the 40-day 2026 railway Spring Festival travel rush successfully concluded, with transportation being safe, stable, and orderly. The national railway sent a total of 538 million passengers, an increase of 4.8% year-on-year. The national railway sent a total of 424 million tons of cargo, an increase of 2.1% year-on-year, with multiple passenger and freight transportation indicators reaching historical highs for the same period during the Spring Festival travel rush.

　　This year's Spring Festival travel rush fully utilized the advantages of the railway network, setting new records for transportation capacity supply. Making good use of the new line capabilities of the Guangzhou-Zhanjiang high-speed railway, Baotou-Yinchuan high-speed railway, Xi'an-Yan'an high-speed railway, and the newly commissioned Fuxing bullet trains, the transportation potential was deeply tapped to maximize the increase in transportation capacity supply. The national railway operated an average of 12,861 passenger trains per day, with a single-day maximum of 14,037 trains, an increase of 8.3% year-on-year, setting new records for the Spring Festival travel rush. Night high-speed trains were arranged on major high-speed railway trunk lines such as Beijing-Guangzhou, Beijing-Shanghai, and Shanghai-Kunming, strengthening cross-border passenger transportation organization. During the Spring Festival travel rush, the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong high-speed railway sent 4.045 million cross-border passengers, an increase of 11.3% year-on-year, and the China-Laos railway sent 33,000 cross-border passengers, an increase of 34% year-on-year.

　　In terms of service quality, measures to facilitate and benefit the public have been effectively implemented. On February 9, 23.115 million tickets were sold, setting a new record for single-day ticket sales during the Spring Festival travel rush. New measures such as free limited-time refunds for mistaken ticket purchases and telephone ticket booking for elderly passengers were introduced, making good use of the standby ticket purchase function, with an overall fulfillment rate of 74.4%. Discounts of up to 80% were offered on tickets for some non-popular routes, providing more benefits to passengers. Efforts were increased to ensure travel service guarantees for key groups, implementing reservation ticket purchases for students and migrant workers, allocating exclusive ticket quotas for student passengers, prioritizing the standby needs of student passengers, and organizing "point-to-point" special trains for migrant workers.

　　In terms of railway logistics, centralized and unified command of transportation was adhered to, making full use of the capabilities of major freight corridors such as Daqin, Wari, Haoji, and Lanxin, vigorously operating 10,000-ton heavy-duty trains, and fully ensuring the transportation of key materials such as electric coal, grain, fertilizer, spring farming, and holiday supplies, achieving priority guarantees and loading as much as possible. The national railway loaded an average of 177,000 cars per day, and coal stocks at power plants directly supplied by the national railway remained at high levels, providing strong support for the stable operation of the national economy and ensuring people a warm winter. During the Spring Festival travel rush, the China-Europe and Central Asia trains operated a total of 3,582 trains, an increase of 15.5% year-on-year, and the Western Land-Sea New Corridor trains and China-Laos railway cross-border cargo transportation continued to increase, effectively ensuring the stability and smoothness of the international supply chain, and serving China-Europe and Central Asia economic and trade exchanges well.