China Railway has officially launched its transportation services for the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day combined holidays. The extensive travel period, spanning 16 days from September 23rd to October 8th, is expected to see a massive 284 million passenger journeys across the nation’s rail network. To accommodate this surge, approximately 13,000 passenger trains are scheduled to operate daily.
The peak travel day is anticipated to be October 1st, coinciding with the start of the official National Day holiday. As of 8 AM today, train tickets for the holiday period have already seen significant demand, with 96.21 million tickets sold through the 12306 railway booking platform.
Popular Routes and Ticketing Insights
Current ticket sales data indicates that popular departure cities include Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Nanjing, Zhengzhou, Wuhan, and Suzhou. On the arrival end, major destinations attracting travelers are Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Zhengzhou, Nanjing, Wuhan, Xi’an, and Changsha.
Specific routes experiencing concentrated passenger flow include:
- Beijing to Zhengzhou
- Shanghai to Beijing
- Guangzhou to Nanning
- Guangzhou to Guigang
- Beijing to Shanghai
- Beijing to Taiyuan
- Beijing to Shenyang
- Beijing to Xi’an
- Beijing to Jinan
For those still planning their trips, there are still available tickets on certain services during peak travel times for departures on September 24th-25th, September 29th-October 1st, September 27th-28th, and for the return journey from October 6th-7th. Tickets are relatively more abundant during the mid-holiday period, from October 2nd to 5th, across various destinations.
Enhanced Capacity and Night Trains
To ensure smooth operations and meet demand, China Railway is prepared to add up to 890 cross-bureau group passenger trains daily, provided safety is maintained. Notably, during the nights leading into the early mornings of September 24th, September 27th, September 29th to October 1st, and October 5th to 7th, high-speed rail services will operate on major lines like the Beijing-Shanghai, Beijing-Guangzhou, and Beijing-Harbin high-speed railways. Approximately 700 additional night high-speed trains are expected to be added daily during these periods.
Furthermore, from September 23rd to October 12th, high-speed sleeper trains (G-series) will be operating daily on a variety of key routes. These include:
- Beijing to Shenzhen, Nanning, Zhanjiang, Zhuhai, Chaoshan, Kunming, and Hong Kong
- Shanghai to Huizhou, Foshan, Guangzhou, and Zhuhai
- Shenzhen to Taiyuan
- Beijing to Chengdu and Guiyang
- Shanghai to Yibin
- Chengdu to Shenzhen and Zhuhai
This significant increase in service capacity and the introduction of night high-speed trains aim to provide travelers with more options and flexibility during one of China’s busiest travel seasons.
