Railway ready for Spring Festival travel peak

China's Spring Festival transportation schedule has begun, five days early. The first travel is this weekend as students and migrant workers rush to get home.

Across China, railways have added 311 temporary round-trips to the schedule. In addition to other measures, these should help to ease the pressure.

Railway stations in Shanghai, Guangxi, Jiangsu and Hunan have added more ticket windows. Shanghai is also using the internet to sell tickets. Xining railway station in Qinghai Province added two windows specially for migrant workers.

The provinces of Hunan and Guizhou have set up temporary waiting rooms for passengers. Volunteers in Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou also established teams at the station to help the old and sick.

Railways authorities also released rules for the travel peak to ensure passengers' safety. Security and safety equipment checks have been stepped up nationwide. Express trains and double-deck trains are strictly prohibit from being overloaded.

The railways expect to carry 180 million passengers this year, more than eight percent over last year.

The number of pre-festival travelers is expected to peak from the 2nd to the 5th of February, mainly in the major cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. After the celebrations end, another peak is expected from the 12th to the 26th of February.