Got Your Ticket Yet? Shanghai Sees 416,000 Rail Trips as Spring Festival Travel Rush Begins

China's annual Spring Festival travel rush, known as chunyun, began on Monday, with Shanghai's rail network seeing off about 416,000 passengers on the first day, local rail authorities said.

To meet rising demand, 18 additional train services were added on routes serving the eastern and southwestern regions, including Anhui, Jiangsu, Yunnan and Guizhou provinces.

"Extra trains and front-line staff have been deployed to manage rising passenger flows at security checks, waiting halls and boarding gates," said Yang Junhua, a duty station manager at Shanghai Hongqiao, the city's busiest rail hub.

According to Yang, the station also added two new phone-charging areas, bringing coverage to all four corners of its waiting halls.

Some travelers said they had intentionally planned their trips ahead of the Lunar New Year's Day, which falls on February 17 this year, to dodge the holiday rush, while others were already bound for home after securing tickets via waitlists.

"At the end of year, all that matters is getting home," said a passenger heading back to Xuchang in central China's Henan Province.

Adding a festive touch to the opening day, calligraphy artists wrote traditional fu (福 fortune) characters and Spring Festival couplets, which passengers tucked into their luggage to take home.

This year's chunyun runs from February 2 to March 13, lasting 40 days. Shanghai is expected to see 49.15 million passenger arrivals and departures across rail, air and road transport, a 5 percent year-on-year increase. The Lunar New Year holiday itself kicks off on February 15 and lasts nine days, the longest such holiday on record.

Rail authorities expect travel volumes to rise ahead of the holiday, peaking between February 12 and 15, with February 14 set to be the busiest day, followed by a return peak around February 23.

Officials advised travelers to allow extra time for security checks and station transfers during the travel rush, and to check real-time updates via China's official railway booking platform, 12306.