China's railways network has crossed 100,000 km in total mileage, as several new high-speed rail links have been launched ahead of spring festival, one of the busiest travel seasons in the country.
The newly introduced links include the Xiamen-Shenzhen railway, Xi'an-Baoji railway, Chongqing-Lichuan railway, and others in southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and have a combined mileage of 2,000 km.
Of the 100,000 km of track, more than 10,000 km are highspeed, said Hu Yadong, vice general manager of the China Railway Corporation.
The expanded railways network increases passenger capacity during the 40-day spring travel peak, which starts on January 16, by 7.9 per cent, minister of transport Yang Chuantang said.
Yang forecast that 257 million trips will be made on the railways during the period, as people go home to their families for Spring Festival on January 31.
A total of 2,667 pairs of trains will be operating before the Spring Festival, an increase of 157 from last year.
Total trips during the period will break a new record by reaching 3.62 billion, including waterways, roads, railways, and air routes.
China's first railway was built in 1876 in Shanghai and first independent railway was constructed in 1881 in Tangshan in north China's Hebei Province. When new China was founded in 1949, there were less than 22,000 km of lines and but only half of that was serviceable.
According to the national railway network plan, highspeed rails will reach 19,000 km by 2015. By 2020, the total railway mileage will top 120,000 km.
Chinese Spring Festival, also called Lunar New Year is the grandest and the most important festival for Chinese people. It is also the time for family members living in big cities to return to their families in rural areas for the all important reunions.
