Yunnan railways gear up for Spring Festival travel rush

Yunnan railways are making preparations to ensure a smooth Spring Festival travel rush, according to a local press conference on January 31.

China Railway Kunming Group Co., Ltd. is expected to serve around 6.85 million passengers during the 2018 Spring Festival travel rush, known as the Chunyun, between February 1 and March 12.

The 6.85 million train trips represent a 5.0 percent growth year on year, thanks to the new high speed railways put into service one year ago.

Facing the upcoming travel rush, China Railway Kunming Group Co., Ltd will enhance its transportation capability.

136 high-speed trains, together with 125 slower trains, will be put into service to meet the passengers’ need each day.

An additional 11 trains will be added to the festival travel rush, with 2 high-speed trains running between Kunming and Guangzhou. The other nine will further connect Kunming with Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chongqing and Hainan.

Passengers can buy their tickets either at the window or on a ticket vending machine, and the ticket fees can be paid by QR code scanning on WeChat. VIP passengers can pay certain tickets with their bonuses issued by the Kunming railway company.

The Spring Festival, or Chinese Lunar New Year, falls on Feb. 16 this year.

Reporting by John Li; trans-editing by Wang Shixue