Significantly fewer travelers on first day of <i>chunyun</i>
Shanghai's railway traffic is significantly slower today – the first day of chunyun, the annual Spring Festival travel rush – due to COVID-19.
China Railway Shanghai Group estimates that only 102,000 railway trips will be made at seven railway stations in Shanghai today.
About 390,000 passengers embarked on home-bound trips from Shanghai on the first day of chunyun last year.
Spring Festival is the most important holiday of the year and the largest annual migration in China, when people return to their hometowns from the cities where they work for family reunions.
Of the 102,000 railway trips, 28,000 are from the Shanghai Railway Station, 20,000 from Shanghai South Railway Station and 54,000 from Hongqiao Railway Station.
Thirty-nine additional departures have been added to new high-speed railway routes for chunyun, including Shanghai-Suzhou-Nantong, Shanghai-Yancheng-Nantong and Shanghai-Lianyungang-Zhenjiang.
A total of 45,000 tickets were made available but most have been sold.
Fourty-seven additional round-way trips have been added between Shanghai and destinations in the provinces of Anhui, Sichuan, Jiangxi and Chongqing. Only 5,665 tickets have been sold so far, 30,000 fewer than last year.
Because of the recent uptick in COVID-19 cases, Chinese railway authorities extended a full refund policy for railway tickets to eight days before departure instead of the normal 15 with no extra charge, an effort to encourage people to stay put and control the spread of the virus.
Between January 14 and 26, 1.67 million tickets had been refunded by Shanghai's railway stations.
Railway stations in Shanghai have tightened COVID-19 prevention and control measures for the travel rush.
"We are strictly checking passengers' temperatures and health QR codes, requiring them to wear facial masks properly, and have enhanced ventilation and disinfection at stations," said Yang Minhua, a railway management employee.
Quarantine seats are in place on trains, and passengers with fevers will be transferred to health authorities.
Passengers with coughs will have their temperatures checked again on board.
An extra 23 facial mask vending machines have been placed at station entrances.
Disinfection has been increased on luggage and relevant facilities, and passengers are reminded to maintain social distance while queuing.
The timing and frequency of disinfection at stations and on trains are based on traffic flow, and disinfection of waiting areas, toilets and public service facilities have been beefed up.
Ventilation in stations and trains has been enhanced, and information sharing with relevant departments will be in place to prevent anyone presenting a potential risk from boarding trains.
Zhang Haijun, a construction worker, embarked on a home-bound trip this morning. The train departing from Shanghai Railway Station at 11am will take him to Pingdingshan in central China's Henan Province.
After taking a nucleic acid test, Zhang said he's excited about the trip. He started working in Shanghai last March and hasn't been home since.
"I can't wait to arrive home, and my parents, wife and child asked me to go back early," he said. "My family will wait for me at the Pingdingshan Railway Station, and they have prepared Henan noodles for me. I am homesick and will give them a hug."
Zhang received his negative nucleic acid test results on Wednesday. He will take another test in Pingdingshan and then quarantine at home for 14 days.
"It's for everyone's safety," he said. "I won't visit friends while I'm home for safety reasons. I haven't bought a return ticket to Shanghai yet, because it will depend on how the pandemic develops."
Another passenger surnamed Zhang also traveling to Pingdingshan had her nucleic acid test results ready.
She's been working in interior decoration in Shanghai since 2013 and has only returned home once over the past year.
"My three-year-old child is waiting for me at home," Zhang said. "The first thing I'll do after getting off the train is to thoroughly disinfect everything."
She plans to return to Shanghai after the Lantern Festival.
At the Shanghai Railway Station ticket refund window, another passenger surnamed Zhang, a native of Longnan, Gansu Province, returned a ticket this morning.
"I've decided not to return home for the holiday due to the development of COVID-19," said Zhang, an electronic components factory worker.
He had purchased a ticket home departing February 8 and received a full refund.
"It's the responsible thing to do for myself, my family and the society," he said. "My parents have been quite understanding, and I told them I will return home when the pandemic wanes."
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