The Yangtze River Delta region is expected to see 174 million railway trips during the summer travel rush that kicks off on July 1, according to China Railway Shanghai Group.

This year's summer travel rush will last for 62 days until Aug 31, according to the group.

About 2.8 million passenger trips are expected daily during the period, up 3.5 percent from the same period last year, the railway operator said.

Summer is typically a busy season for China's railway system, as college students return home and demand for family visits and travel surges.

To meet the increasing demand, the Yangtze River Delta region plans to operate 1,341.5 round trips of passenger trains, an increase of 30.5 round trips from the previous year, up by 2.3 percent.

High proportion of student, child travelers

Passengers will be traveling for various purposes, including tourism, family visits, and business trips.

Significant growth in travel is expected from parent-child tours, summer study tours, and event attendance, leading to a high proportion of student and child travelers.

Due to the vacation schedules of colleges and universities, passenger flow will exhibit a "U"-shaped trend with peaks at the beginning and end of the season and relatively stable traffic in the middle. Overall, passenger flow in August will be higher than in July, with weekend traffic surpassing weekday traffic.

High-speed trains will remain the preferred choice for travel.

Major destinations include traditional tourist cities such as Beijing, Xi'an, Qingdao, and Xiamen, along with popular tourist spots like Changsha, Yangzhou, and Huangshan.

Additionally, cities with abundant educational resources or red tourism sites, as well as hometowns for migrant workers, will also experience busy passenger traffic at various times.

New trains

During the summer travel rush period, China Railway Shanghai Group plans to introduce 16 round trips of temporary direct trains. These will connect Nanyang East (Zhengzhou East) to Shanghai Hongqiao, Nanchang East to Hangzhou West, Qingdao North to Shanghai Hongqiao, and Liaocheng to Jinhua, among other areas. .

Among the 16 round trips, six will be high-speed trains, and 10 will be regular-speed trains.

Additionally, adjustments will be made to the operating sections of two round trips, and one round-trip train that was suspended during the off-season will be restored.

For regular-speed trains to Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, schedules will be maximized to their full capacity.

To address capacity constraints in other directions, some regular-speed trains will be upgraded to high-speed trains, and additional cars will be added to regular-speed trains as needed.

Upgraded Fuxing trains

The upgraded Fuxing high-speed trains have been introduced on the Beijing-Shanghai High-speed Railway and other popular high-speed rail lines originating from Hangzhou. These new models increase the number of second-class seats and overall seating capacity, and they expand large luggage storage areas, further enhancing the travel experience.

New ticketing policy

The railway authorities will promote new ticketing products such as multi-ride tickets and period tickets. These are currently available on six routes, including the Shanghai-Suzhou-Nantong Railway, Xuzhou-Lianyungang High-speed Railway, Nanjing-Hangzhou High-speed Railway, Hefei-Huangmei section of the Beijing-Hong Kong High-speed Railway, Huangshan-Nanchang section of the Hangzhou-Nanchang High-speed Railway, and the Beijing-Shanghai High-speed Railway.

The Railway Express Code has been implemented on all EMU trains, providing convenient transfers at 19 stations in the Yangtze River Delta region. Additionally, internet meal ordering services are available at 21 stations, greatly improving the travel experience.

Source: China Railway Shanghai Group Co Ltd