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With Chinese New Year on Wednesday, the country's transport system is working overtime to carry millions of passengers heading home for their annual family reunion. So far, trains, planes and buses have helped handle more than 680 million journeys.
This year, long distance buses carried the heaviest burden, carrying about 55 million passengers on Sunday alone. So far, highway buses have transported more than 200 million travelers. Many provincial authorities have been sharing information on bus schedules and working with local police to ensure safe and efficient operation along the major routes.
Provinces along the Yangtze River have also been working together to supervise ferry services on the river. And in the Qiongzhou Strait, between Guangdong Province and the island province of Hainan, authorities are using helicopters and patrol craft to check ferries are not overloaded.
The railway system is also working at peak capacity, handling a total of 3.3 million ridership on Sunday. Railway authorities have introduced a range of new procedures to help ease the strains. In Beijing, special staff has been deployed to direct passengers through the stations to their trains. And in Guangzhou, 127 extra return trains were put into operation.
Airlines handled about 400,000 arrivals and departures on Sunday, the highest number in China's history. Airlines across the country boosted flights to 3,000, providing more than 550,000 seats to handle the extra demand.
(CCTV.com February 8, 2005)
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