National Day Travel Rush Packs Shanghai Stations as Holiday Begins

Crowds packed Shanghai's railway stations on October 1 as the seven-day National Day holiday began, with departures across the city's railway stations forecast to reach a record 850,000.

The local rush formed part of an estimated 334.1 million cross-regional passenger trips nationwide on the holiday's opening day, China Transport News reported. That would be 52.3 percent higher than September 30, but 0.5 percent below the first day of last year's combined National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival break.

Rail travel was expected to increase despite the slightly lower overall forecast. Railway passenger trips were projected at 24.8 million, up 7.2 percent from October 1 last year. Road travel was forecast at 305.45 million trips, down 1.1 percent, with air and waterway passenger trips at 2.51 million and 1.34 million respectively.

China State Railway Group planned to add 2,324 trains nationwide on October 1, Xinhua reported. The previous day, the railway network carried 19.542 million passengers. Shanghai was among the most popular departure and arrival cities in advance ticket sales, with the Shanghai-Wuhan and Shanghai-Beijing routes among the busiest.

In Shanghai, long lines had formed at security checkpoints in Hongqiao Railway Station's departure hall by 8:50am. Shanghai Railway Station's forecourt and waiting rooms were also crowded.

Hongqiao alone expected 448,000 departing passengers and 269,000 arrivals, duty stationmaster Tong Lijun told Shanghai Television. The 850,000-departure forecast covers Shanghai's railway stations collectively, rather than Hongqiao alone.

Shanghai's railway stations scheduled 165 additional trains for October 1, followed by another 54 overnight services between midnight and 5am on October 2. Waiting rooms were to remain open overnight where needed, with shops, hot water and lighting available at Hongqiao through the night.

Travelers unable to secure high-speed rail tickets were also turning to coaches. Shanghai South Long-Distance Bus Station expected more than 5,000 passengers on nearly 200 services, including almost 50 extra departures. Popular destinations included Ningbo, Zhoushan, Shaoxing, Nantong and Suzhou.

On the roads, the outbound G40 corridor toward Jiangsu was a pressure point. Shanghai police forecast that 86,000 vehicles would leave the city via the Yangtze River Tunnel and Bridge on October 1, The Paper reported. Traffic through the outbound tunnel exceeded 3,700 vehicles an hour at 10am, with average speeds of about 30 kilometers per hour.

Slow-moving traffic were also reported on sections of the G60 Shanghai-Kunming Expressway from around 10am. Police used drones and motorcycle patrols to identify incidents and clear stranded vehicles.

The return rush is expected toward the end of the October 1-7 break.