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Migrant workers and students yesterday mobbed railway stations to secure their return tickets  as the rush to get home for the Lunar New Year  continued.
The Railway Ministry has said it expected 188 million people to take  trains this year, up 8 per cent compared to last year. The Year of the Ox begins on January 26.
According to China Central Television, people in two key cities, Guangzhou and Beijing, queued  outside railway stations at the weekend to buy tickets. The ticket-selling system at the Guangzhou station shut down for almost three hours on Sunday as 160,000 seats were released at  the same time.  About 710,000 tickets, two-thirds of the total number  available, had been booked through online and telephone booking systems as of yesterday.
In Beijing, the peak season began  earlier than in other cities, as it always does,  China News Service quoted a Beijing Railway Station representative as saying. This year, the first day was last Thursday.
The Railway Ministry's  website reported that minister Liu Zhijun   had been visiting stations to make sure everything was in place for the  peak season.
'It's important to have a safe and good order while providing quality service under efficient management,' Mr Liu said.
Although the mainland  railway system had  developed in recent years, the supply of seats  did not meet  demand, especially over the Lunar New Year and  National Day holidays,  Mr Liu said.
Cargo and passenger trains have had to share existing facilities, but Mr Liu said he expected that situation to improve by 2012.



Stations mobbed as run on Lunar New Year's rail seats continues