2018年CRI China's railways gear up for the Spring Festival travel rush

 

Railways across China are under pressure after the Spring Festival travel rush began on Thursday.

To help ensure people make it home for the holiday, the railway authority has added more trains and launched a special ticketing service for migrant workers.

The Spring Festival, which starts with the Chinese New Year on February 16 this year, is the country's grandest traditional festival.

Most people working away from their hometown will return for a family reunion, with the total volume of passengers nationwide expected to reach almost 3 billion during a 40-day long travel rush.

The number of railway passengers is expected to reach 390 million during the period, which is a year-on-year increase of nine percent.

Zhang Caichun, the deputy² director of the Dispatch³ Department of China Railway, said more trains have been put into service during this peak period.

"The scheduled railway traffic for this year's Spring Festival travel rush is record-breaking. On top of the nearly 39-hundred sets of regular daily trains, we have added an additional over 500 temporary services before and over 600 services after the Spring Festival, which is an average daily increase of more than 5 percent over last year. Passenger hubs in particular have seen a considerable increase of transport capacity."

The official railway ticketing system has seen sales increase from 10 million to 15 million tickets per day compared to last year.

Getting a ticket is not easy, especially for migrant workers who are eager to head home for the holiday but often struggle to access opportunities to buy tickets.

This year, the railway department has launched a special ticketing service for migrant workers from big labor⁴ export regions such as Sichuan, Guizhou, and Chongqing.

Li Wenxin is the vice¹ general manager of China Railway. He says they have set aside a special reserve of tickets for migrant workers.

"These passengers can buy tickets from special ticket windows opened for migrant workers. This is the first time we have taken such a measure. So far over 14 million tickets have been sold through these windows."

Wu Wenxing is a passenger at Dazhou Raiway Station in Sichuan Province. He says the special ticketing service helped him to get a hard-to-get ticket.

"It's really convenient. I checked online and found that there were no tickets left. So I came to the special window to try my luck, and I got it."

Meanwhile, railway maintenance⁵ workers have entered their busiest period of the year, working around the clock inspecting and repairing China's high-speed trains.

Railway police around the country are also hard at work during the Spring Festival travel rush. Railway police are sharing tips on travel safety with passengers, and are on alert⁶ to deal with possible emergencies.

1 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

2 deputy   

n.代理人，代表，副职；adj.代理的，副的

参考例句：

• John will act as a deputy for me during my absence.我离开期间，约翰将代理我的职务。
• She is the deputy headmistress of the school.她是那所学校的代理校长。

3 dispatch   

vt.派遣；n.急件，快信，新闻报道，派遣

参考例句：

• We must ask someone to carry a dispatch from Rome to London.我们得派人把急件由罗马送往伦敦。
• I'll advise you of the dispatch of the goods.我会通知你们货物的发运情况。

4 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

5 maintenance   

n.维修，保养，扶养费，维持，保持

参考例句：

• His small farm provides maintenance,but not much more.他的小农场能使他们维持生活，但仅此而已。
• He has to pay maintenance to his ex-wife.他必须给前妻赡养费。

6 alert   

adj.机警的，活泼的，机灵的；vt.使...警觉

参考例句：

• Drivers must be on the alert for traffic signals.驾驶员必须密切注意交通信号。
• The rabbIt'seems to be very alert all its life.兔子似乎一生都小心翼翼，十分警觉。