Xinhua quoted the Ministry of Railways said China railway authority plans to put an extra 159 trains into service on Tuesday to cope with booming travel demand.

In a statement posted on its website, the ministry said that 2.29 million passengers hit the rails on Monday and the country added 152 more trains to accommodate the holiday goers.

The country trains had carried a total of 85.742 million passengers from January 8 to 23 up by 10.8%YoY.

The Spring Festival travel season kicked off on January 8 this year with hundreds of millions of people, mainly migrant workers and college students, heading home for the most important festival in China.

Chinese people are expected to make around 3.16 billion passenger trips this year during the travel rush up by 9.1%YoY. Of those journeys, 235 million are likely to be made by train up by 6.1%YoY.

The travel rush period will end on February 16.

(Sourced from Xinhua)