Record number of Chinese travellers take trains over Labour Day holiday
China Railway Corporation runs extra 327 train trips yesterday to cope with demand, while major highways hit by accidents and severe delays
A new record has been set for the number of journeys made on China's railway system on a single day as millions of mainlanders flocked to tourist attractions on Friday - the first day of the three-day Labour Day holiday.
About 11.9 million people travelled by train on May 1 - an increase of 11.6 per cent compared with the same day last year, Xinhua news agency reported.
This total was about 2 million more passengers than the previous record set during this year's Lunar New Year travel season.
The China Railway Corporation told Xinhua it had run an extra 327 train trips yesterday to cope with the extra demand.
Main roads linking major cities also struggled with heavy traffic congestion as they introduced toll-free journeys during the three-day holiday dubbed the "Mini Golden Week".
By 4pm on Friday, the number of road journeys in the capital had increased by more than 22 per cent to 1.5 million compared with the previous day, the Beijing Times reported.