| Videos | ? Latest |
|
? Feature | ? Sports | ? Your Videos |
Spring Festival travel rush see decrease
0 
Rail passenger flow saw a decrease on Friday, a day ahead of Lunar New Year's Eve. But cold weather and heavy snow has added extra pressure onto already congested roads and aviation networks.
The country's roads and highways saw a record 66 million passenger trips returning home on Friday. The continuing snow has caused disruption on the country's transport system.
By Friday, 34 highways in seven provinces and regions still remained closed. Shandong, Anhui, Hubei and Jiangsu provinces are the worst affected regions.
All major highways in Shandong's Jianan city were closed Thursday, leaving tens of thousands of passengers stranded at bus stations. On Friday, as the weather improved, stations added an additional 600 buses to help stranded passengers.
The snow has also closed down highways in Jiangsu Province. More than 90 thousands travellers were affected by the snow. The road departments allocated 200 vehicles to restore the transport networks. By early Friday, all highways resumed operation.
Dong Leihong, Engineer of Jiangsu Transportation Department, said, "According to the latest weather forecast, most parts of the country's north will see heavy snowfall during the holiday. While the country's south will have a mix of rain and snow. The bad weather is expected to affect roads, but major lines will be clear."
To ensure safety, the Guangzhou Passenger Transportation Station has run regular checks on all its shuttle buses before setting out. In addition, all buses have been equipped with GPS and monitoring systems to prevent overcapacity on buses. 145 checkpoints have been set up at major roads and highways.
For railways, long-distance trips have been decreasing, but short-distance lines and high-speed rails have remained popular.
