China officially began its largest annual population migration on Friday, 15 days before the Spring Festival, also known as the Lunar New Year, with expectations of record-breaking numbers of journeys.
The country’s transport ministry estimates that there will be around 9 billion passenger trips during the 2024 travel rush period. Of these, approximately 7.2 billion trips, or 80 per cent, will be made by self-driving, while 1.8 billion trips will utilize railways, highways, waterways, and civil aviation.
China’s railway operator has projected that the country’s railways will accommodate 480 million passengers during this travel season, with an average of 12 million trips per day, marking a 37.9 per cent increase from the previous year.
It is anticipated that approximately 10.6 million train trips will take place on Friday, the first day of the travel rush.
