China Railway Sets Single-Day Record During National Day Holiday

China State Railway Group recorded a new single-day record of 25.204 million passenger trips on October 1, marking the start of the National Day holiday. The company expects total passenger trips to reach 284 million during the combined Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday window, which runs from September 23 to October 8.

To manage the surge, authorities scheduled 1,462 additional trains for October 2, a day when 20.39 million trips were anticipated. Regional railway groups implemented targeted measures to ease congestion. The China Railway Taiyuan Group coordinated shuttle buses to scenic spots like the Yungang Grottoes in Shanxi Province, while the China Railway Hohhot Group added 11 multiple-unit trains to the Baotou-Yinchuan high-speed railway. In other regions, the China Railway Wuhan Group launched a promotion campaign offering discounts at hotels and scenic spots for passengers using the Yichang-Xingshan high-speed railway.

Broader transport data from the Ministry of Transport showed 329.5 million cross-regional passenger trips on October 1, representing a 1.9 percent year-on-year decrease. While railway and waterway travel increased, road passenger trips fell by 2.8 percent. Simultaneously, the National Energy Administration reported a record 28.05 million kilowatt-hours of highway charging volume on October 1, a 60.4 percent increase over the previous year.