During the May Day holiday, 158 million railway passengers were transported nationwide

       The railway transportation work during the May Day holiday in 2026 started on April 29th and ended successfully on May 6th, lasting for 8 days. The reporter learned from China Railway Group Co., Ltd. that during the holiday, the national railway has sent a total of about 158 million passengers, and multiple transportation indicators have broken historical records, effectively ensuring the demand for large-scale personnel mobility.

       This year's May Day holiday, combined with spring breaks in primary and secondary schools across the country, has led to a concentrated release of demand for tourism, family visits, and leisure travel. The railway passenger flow continues to operate at a high level, showing the characteristics of "concentrated long-distance travel at the beginning and end, and dense short distance travel in the middle". Before the holiday (April 30th), the railway passenger flow had climbed to 19.79 million people; On May 1st, there was a peak in travel volume, with 24.844 million passengers being sent by railways nationwide in a single day, further increasing from the historical record of 23.132 million passengers set on October 1st, 2025, and successfully breaking the record for the highest daily passenger volume of railways in China. Among them, the Yangtze River Delta Railway sent 4.738 million passengers on the same day, accounting for about one-fifth of the national total; China Railway Guangzhou Bureau has sent 3.758 million passengers, and Beijing has been ranked as the most popular city for holiday railway travel for several consecutive days.

       In order to fully ensure passenger travel, the railway department has released its transportation capacity, and during the holiday period, the daily average number of passenger trains operated by railways nationwide exceeds 12000. In response to peak hours and popular directions, we will focus on increasing the capacity of high-speed rail trunk lines such as Beijing Shanghai, Beijing Guangzhou, and Beijing Harbin. From the night of April 29th, April 30th, May 1st, May 4th, and May 5th to the early morning of the next day, we will add 700 cross bureau night high-speed rail trains daily to meet the needs of passengers for night travel and return trips. At the same time, key national hub stations such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, and Chengdu have simultaneously launched a 24-hour overnight operation mode, opening up all entry channels, security equipment, and waiting areas, and increasing personnel for guidance, ticketing, cleaning, and other positions to ensure convenient and efficient travel for passengers, and fully safeguarding a safe journey during holidays.