National railway operations recorded unprecedented passenger volumes as China State Railway Group reported over 302 million passenger trips completed during the 16-day Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day travel period running from September 23 to October 8.
Official transport statistics confirm a 24.6 percent year-on-year increase in passenger movement across the nation’s rail grid. The daily passenger volume peaked on October 1, reaching a single-day record of 25.204 million trips. To accommodate the massive influx of holiday travelers, national operators dispatched a record 14,885 passenger trains on the peak travel day alone.
The transport department of China State Railway Group highlighted that the close alignment of the two major national holidays generated concentrated consumer demand across family reunions, leisure sightseeing, wellness trips, and seasonal freight logistics.
Capacity Expansion and Infrastructure Utilization
To maintain transit efficiency across densely populated corridors, national railway operators scaled daily service frequencies to an average of 13,300 passenger trains per day, marking a 3.3 percent year-on-year increase in overall service output.
Operational management mobilized newly commissioned high-speed rail corridors and modern station terminals to relieve pressure along high-demand routes. Key infrastructure additions, including the recently opened Xiong’an-Shangqiu section of the Beijing-Hong Kong high-speed railway, provided essential capacity buffers that allowed operators to add high-frequency express services during peak hours.
Alongside high-speed bullet train operations, state railways maintained regular conventional passenger services, ensuring accessible transportation links for rural communities and regional connections.
Digital ticketing infrastructure demonstrated high operational stability throughout the holiday rush. Official booking system metrics show that the national 12306 railway online ticketing system processed 29.737 million ticket purchases on September 23 alone, establishing a record single-day digital transaction volume for the national transit platform.
Cultural Tourism Themes and Cross-Border Transit Expansion
Tourism-focused train itineraries saw high passenger engagement across scenic and historical regions. The national operator deployed specialized passenger trains tailored toward regional sightseeing, cultural heritage appreciation, local culinary experiences, and revolutionary history sites across major inland provinces.
Cross-border high-speed passenger corridors also logged heavy travel volumes throughout the two-week period. The Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong high-speed railway recorded 1.66 million cross-border passenger trips, facilitating regional tourist flow between mainland urban centers and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Simultaneously, the China-Laos Railway safely transported 14,000 international cross-border passengers, underscoring growing regional tourism connectivity across Southeast Asia.
In parallel with record passenger transport achievements, state-operated freight rail lines transported 192 million metric tons of essential goods, representing a 5 percent year-on-year growth. Freight operations prioritized the rapid movement of power-generation coal, agricultural fertilizers, harvested grain, and holiday consumer goods to ensure market stability across all provinces throughout the holiday period.
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