The railway summer traffic rush this year kicked off on July 1, and will last for 62 days till August 31. It is expected to see a passenger flow rebound over the national railways, with a passenger ridership up to 520 million in total and 10 million on peak days. Railway departments will earnestly implement the deployment requirements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council for stabilizing the economic fundamentals and make overall planning to efficiently balance epidemic prevention and control, and passenger and freight transport, in an effort to effectively serve the holiday travel and support stable and healthy economic and social development.
Passenger demands are fulfilled by optimized passenger transport products. CR takes full advantage of the increased transport capacity resources, e.g. Beijing-Wuhan Section of Beijing-Guangzhou HSR with normalized operation speed of 350 km/h, new lines and new stations including Xiangyangdong-Wanzhoubei Section of Zhengzhou-Chongqing HSR, Puyang-Zhengzhou Section of Jinan-Zhengzhou HSR, Hotan-Ruoqiang Railway, and Beijing Fengtai Railway Station, to satisfy passengers’ demands with optimized service and products. By closely following the changes in local epidemic prevention and control policies and recovery progress of key industries such as tourism, railway departments scientifically analyze and understand travel rules of passengers with help of big data from the 12306 platform, to realize “one day one train working diagram” and allocate additional passenger trains accordingly. Quick response mechanism has been established to deal with sudden passenger flow increase, such as preparing sufficient hot standby trainsets and train crews, running coupled EMUs and conventional speed trains coupled with additional coaches. All-around efforts have also been made to improve passengers’ travel experience. The basic services are better guaranteed, such as cleaning, catering and water supply. Particular attention is paid to the services for the passengers with special needs, such as the elderly, students, the sick, the disabled and pregnant women. The public-benefit “slow trains” are kept running, and release of transport service information is enhanced in case of extreme weather.
Measures are taken to guarantee transportation of key supplies. CR launched a special campaign to guarantee transport of thermal coal, meeting the “peak electricity demand in summer” across the country. Transport capacity has been enhanced on major coal transport routes such as Datong-Qinhuangdao Railway, Tangshan-Baotou Railway, Watang-Rizhao Railway and Haolebaoji-Ji’an Railway, as well as busy trunk lines such as Lanzhou-Urumchi HSR and Golmud-Korla Railway, in an effort to raise the outbound transport volume of thermal coal in the main coal-producing areas of Shanxi, Shaanxi, Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang. Railway departments also maintain active communication with major power plants to collect their transport demands, keep an eye on the supply, consumption and stock of thermal coal, and tailor scientific transport plans to fully satisfy their transport demands. This summer traffic rush will see a daily average loading of thermal coal of about 60,000 wagons, an increase over 10,000 wagons year on year. CR will make every effort to guarantee transport of key supplies concerning national economy and people’s livelihood, such as epidemic prevention supplies and agricultural supplies, as well as raw materials and finished products, to support work resumption and people’s livelihood. Steps have been taken to strengthen traffic organization of CRE trains, New Western Land-Sea Corridor trains, and China-Laos Railway international freight trains to enhance organization efficiency at railway port stations and stability of international industrial chain and supply chain.
Safe and uninterrupted railway transport creates favorable travel environment. Epidemic prevention and control measures have been strictly implemented onboard and at stations, e.g. body temperature measurement, health code checking, social distancing, ventilation and disinfection, reserved seats/space for quarantine use, etc.. Besides, passenger riding percentage is strictly controlled; such measures as non-contact check-in/out and QR code scanning for food ordering are promoted to curb the spread of the virus. Flood control and prevention is highlighted according to the requirements of “getting prepared, detecting hidden trouble to prevent flood disaster and resuming railway operation to the utmost extent in the event of disaster”. Early warning and monitoring of natural disasters are enhanced to build the “three-in-one” (i.e., people, equipment and technology) defensive line, guaranteeing safe and smooth railway transport. The Catalogue of Articles Prohibited, Restricted and Consigned by Railway Passengers issued by the state is strictly followed, security check measures and public security administration onboard and at stations are enhanced to ensure safe and orderly travel of passengers.