China’s record rail rush contrasts with a dip in overall holiday travel

China’s trains carried a record 25.204 million passenger trips on the first day of the National Day holiday, even as overall travel across the country slipped from a year earlier. The contrast extended to highway charging stations, where electricity use jumped 60.4%. The figures, reported by The Independent Uganda in a Xinhua dispatch, show rail traffic and vehicle charging reaching new peaks during the holiday rush.

China State Railway Group said the Oct. 1 passenger count was the highest ever recorded in a single day on the national railway network. Transport ministry figures put the annual increase at 9%. The operator expected another 20.39 million railway trips on Oct. 2 and scheduled 1,462 additional trains to meet demand. Across the wider Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day travel period, running from Sept. 23 to Oct. 8, it forecast about 284 million railway passenger trips.

China Railway put expected passenger trips for the Sept. 23–Oct. 8 holiday period at about 284 million.

More trains and links to tourist sites

Ticket pre-sales placed Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Chengdu among the leading departure and arrival cities. Shenzhen also featured among the busiest departure points, while Changsha was among the popular destinations. Demand was particularly strong for journeys in both directions between Xi’an and Chengdu, and for services from Beijing to Shenyang, Zhengzhou and Qingdao. Railway authorities said they had strengthened operations and introduced measures to keep journeys safe and convenient.

The preparations went beyond adding seats. In Shanxi Province, the Taiyuan railway group worked with local transport departments and tourist attractions to add shuttle buses from Datong South Station. The buses connect passengers with Hengshan Mountain and the Yungang Grottoes, a UNESCO World Heritage site containing more than 50,000 Buddhist stone sculptures. The Hohhot railway group, meanwhile, added 11 multiple-unit trains on the Baotou–Wuhai section of the Baotou–Yinchuan high-speed line.

The Wuhan railway group used the newly opened Yichang–Xingshan high-speed railway for a joint promotion with local governments. Passengers could use their tickets to obtain discounts at scenic sites, hotels and homestays in Yichang and Xingshan. Together, the measures addressed several parts of the holiday journey: train capacity, onward transport and offers at destinations.

Road travel falls as charging surges

The rail record came against a weaker overall travel count. The Ministry of Transport reported 329.5 million cross-regional passenger trips on Oct. 1, down 1.9% from a year earlier. Road trips accounted for 300.36 million, falling 2.8%. Waterway journeys rose 7.2% to 1.416 million, while civil aviation recorded 2.515 million trips, an increase of 0.5%.

Highway vehicle charging moved sharply higher. The National Energy Administration reported 28.05 million kilowatt-hours of charging electricity on the holiday’s first day, based on data from 62,700 highway charging facilities covered by its national monitoring platform. That was 60.4% above the opening day of the previous National Day holiday and a new single-day holiday high.

The next figures to watch are for Oct. 2. The transport ministry expected total cross-regional passenger trips to reach 308.19 million, up 2.1% year on year. For rail operators, the immediate task was accommodating the projected 20.39 million journeys, with additional trains already scheduled as the broader holiday travel period continued toward Oct. 8.