China Starts to Sell Train Tickets for Spring Festival

Xinhua, January 7, 2013

 

Train stations are instituting seasonal measures on Monday to deal with large numbers of travelers during the upcoming Spring Festival holiday.

 

Starting from Monday, passengers will be able to buy train tickets up to 20 days ahead of their preferred departure time, lengthening the amount of time from 12 days.

 

 

(The information about train tickets from Beijing, capital of China, to Zhengzhou, capital of central China's Henan Province, on Jan. 26, 2013 is shown on the online railway ticket booking website of the Ministry of Railways, Jan. 7, 2013. The tickets for the upcoming Spring Festival rush period can be purchased via online and phone-call booking systems since Jan. 7. The 40-day 2013 Spring Festival travel rush will start on Jan. 26. The Spring Festival for family reunions begins from the first day of the first month of the traditional Chinese lunar calendar, or Feb. 10, 2013. [Photo: Xinhua])

 

Spring Festival, also known as the Chinese Lunar New Year, will begin on Feb. 10 this year.

 

The busiest travel period will likely span from Jan. 26 to March 6, according to the Ministry of Railways.

 

More than 224 million passengers are expected to travel via trains during the period, a year-on-year increase of 4.6 percent, according to the ministry.

 

Spring Festival is China's most important holiday of reunion, with quite a few Chinese traveling to their hometowns to spend time with their relatives for the occasion.