Shanghai expected to see peak travel on Friday

Railway stations in Shanghai are expected to brace for a peak of 550,000 travellers on Friday for this year's Spring Festival as people are returning to the city after the holiday, according to local railway management administration.

The Shanghai Railway Station located in the central part of the city is expected to receive 145,000 travelers on Friday - the last day of the seven-day Chinese New Year holiday, while the Shanghai South Railway Station is expected to receive 55,000 travellers. Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station, which is connected to Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, is estimated to receive 350,000 travelers.

China Railway Shanghai Bureau Group said that the railway stations in the Yangtze River Delta region will all receive the peak of holiday travellers on Friday. Therefore, the local railway bureaus have planned 298 additional passenger trains for the estimated 1.93 million travellers.

Ever since Jan 7, when people started to return to their hometowns from their work places for this year's Spring Festival, the railway stations in the Yangtze River Delta region have received more than 29.64 million passenger departures and arrivals.

It is estimated that during the Spring Festival travel season this year, the Shanghai Pudong and Hongqiao international airports will have a total of 66,240 flights and 6.5 million passengers. The average daily flight volume will come at around 1,656, while the daily passenger number is likely to reach 164,000. In January, flight volume and passenger flow are expected to increase by 42.1 percent and 46.8 percent respectively from a month earlier, according to Shanghai Airport (Group) Co Ltd.

During the seven-day Chinese New Year holiday, China Eastern Airlines plans to operate about 18,000 flights. From Jan 8 to Jan 31, the airline plans to operate 43 international routes, 22 more than the same period last year. It also plans to implement 400 international flights during the same period, a surge of 220 percent year-on-year.

Wang Ying in Shanghai contributed to the story.