(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-01-07 19:41

BEIJING -- China's railways are expected to carry a record 178.6 million passengers in the upcoming 40-day annual peak season when millions are on the move for family-gathering during the Lunar New Year holidays.

Chinese railways carried 156 million passengers during last year's travel peak.

The Ministry of Railways (MOR) said passenger flow would again narrow down to regions around robust Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai prior to the Lunar New Year's Day, which fell on February 7.

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Armies of people from across the country who had swarmed to find better jobs would return home for the most important traditional holiday.

The MOR said this year's peak season would start on January 23 and end on March 2. It was a time when not only job seekers, including migrant workers, but also students who studied outside their hometowns and holiday makers, would travel by rail.

Experts said this year's Spring Festival, as the holiday was known, would see a surge in passenger flow as some people who had planned to go home during the May Day holiday would have to reschedule their trip. The previous weeklong May Day holiday was replaced by a maximum three-day holiday this year.

The MOR said it planned to arrange an additional 622 trains to add to the transport capacity. It had also prepared alternative plans to cope with peak passenger flows and possible emergencies.

It also would not raise ticket prices during the holiday, a practice adopted last year and widely applauded, said Su Shunhu, deputy head of the MOR's transport department.

He said the ministry would not mark up discount ticket prices either. Experts believed it meant discount prices for new air-conditioned trains, as well as most of the latest high-speed trains, would remain and there would be no temporary rise during the peak season.

China had long adopted the practice of offering discount tickets for students to ensure they could go home for vacation at less expense.

The MOR had offered round-trip tickets for migrants this year. Previously, the tickets were only available to students.

China also boosted its rail speed for the sixth time in April, along with the launch of trains that ran at speeds of up to 250 kilometers per hour.

The operation of such high-speed trains was expected to help to handle the travel peak more efficiently, as it could shorten travel hours.