|
Train tickets the most precious gift
(China Daily)
Updated: 2006-01-23 05:44
Passenger flow hits new record
China's railway transportation capacity before the Lunar New Year hit a new
record on Saturday, even though it was the first day of increased rail travel
prices.
About 3.74 million passengers boarded trains nationwide, a growth of 510,000
passengers over the same period last year, the Ministry of Railways said. 549
temporary trains were arranged to carry the passengers, 108 more than last year.
In Beijing West Railway Station, 167,000 people boarded trains, increasing by
nearly 39 per cent from last year. In Shanghai Railway Station, passengers
reached 169,000, while in Guangzhou there were 198,000 train travellers,
according to statistics from the Ministry.
By 4 pm on Saturday, railway lines disturbed by heavy snowfall on Thursday in
Central China were starting to return to normal.
"But the railway transportation network still needs one or two days to
recover," Yao Hongren from Beijing West Railway Station told the Beijing News.
Since passengers numbers are expected to climb in the coming days, Yao said
that in his station, the red emergency scheme will be continued until January
28, the last day of the year on the lunar calendar, which indicates that
passengers will be allowed into the waiting hall only six hours before the
departure time.
Hundreds of police remained in the station to maintain orderly passenger
flow, but there are still some passengers stranded in the station.
Seventeen passenger trains heading for Shanghai along the Longhai Railway,
which runs from Gansu Province to Shanghai, were seriously delayed due to the
heavy snowfall in Central China, leaving at least 20,000 passengers still
stranded in the Shanghai Railway Station by yesterday afternoon.
The railway administration has partly opened its underground parking garage
and ticket office to receive the huge number of waiting passengers.
According to an official named Fan Qing with the office of Shanghai Railway
Station, only four of the 17 delayed trains heading for Shanghai have settled
their departure time.
More windows have been opened to serve passengers who want to return their
tickets for the trains, which will run along the Longhai Railway.
It will still take some time to relieve the pressure of stranded passengers
before the extreme peak transportation period, which is estimated to come on
January 26, Fan said.
|
