China’s railway network is expected to handle 24.15 million passenger trips on Wednesday, the final day of the week-long National Day holiday, as the return travel across the country surges, according to China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. (China Railway).
To cope with the surge in return traffic, China Railway has planned to add 2,449 additional trains on Wednesday.
The China Railway Beijing Group expects passenger volume to rise 15 percent year on year and will add 169.5 pairs of trains, mainly serving destinations such as Harbin, Shenyang, Dalian and Datong.
The China Railway Guangzhou Group forecasts a 20.8 percent year-on-year increase in passenger volume and will add 765 trains, mainly on routes including Beijing-Guangzhou, Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong, Hangzhou-Shenzhen and Jiangmen-Zhanjiang lines.
In the Yangtze River Delta region, which covers Shanghai Municipality and the provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui, all in east China, the China Railway Shanghai Group expects to send 4.15 million passengers on Wednesday, up 17.7 percent year on year.
It plans to add 557 passenger trains and operate 427 Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) trains with doubled capacity, while scheduling 210 overnight high-speed trains from Wednesday night to early Thursday.
The region has seen strong travel demand from tourists, families and students, with high passenger volume and sharp peaks. The Shanghai Group handled 3.83 million trips on October 6 and 4.43 million on October 1, a record high for the holiday period.
Local railway authorities in northeast China have also stepped up service and weather-related measures.
With cold air lowering temperatures in the region, railway stations including Changbaishan, Tonghua and Baishandong have opened heated waiting areas for passengers.
Hohhot East Railway Station in northern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has introduced zone-based temperature control.
In Beijing, railway stations are coordinating with local transport authorities to extend subway operating hours, with some last subway trains connecting Beijing West and Beijing South railway stations running until 02:00 the following day.
Lanzhou West Railway Station in Gansu Province, a key railway hub in northwest China, is expected to handle a total of 595,200 passenger trips from October 1 to October 7, averaging 85,000 trips per day, up 9 percent year on year.
To accommodate the return travel peak, the station has added 32 high-speed EMU trains on peak lines to Xining and Xi’an, and 16 temporary EMU trains to cities like Nanjing.
The station has optimized transfer routes and coordinated with local bus and rail transit services to extend operating hours, ensuring late-night arrivals can complete their journeys.
It has also made available convenience facilities including automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and emergency medical kits, as well as walking sticks, stretchers and wheelchairs for passengers with mobility difficulties, with dedicated staff assisting them at the station.
The 2026 Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day railway transport period runs from September 23 to October 8, totaling 16 days. By Tuesday, China’s railway system has handled more than 250 million passenger trips during the period.
China Railway expects 24.15 mln passenger trips on final day of holiday
China Railway expects 24.15 mln passenger trips on final day of holiday
China Railway expects 24.15 mln passenger trips on final day of holiday
Administrator of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Alexander De Croo has expressed concern regarding Tuesday’s drone attacks on two merchant ships in the Black Sea off the coast of Bulgaria, citing global food insecurity, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at a daily press briefing.
At around 15:00 on Tuesday, the two merchant ships were attacked with sea and air drones around 70 nautical miles east of the town of Byala in Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone, Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said at the beginning of a meeting with representatives of the Bulgarian institutions.
The first ship, flying the flag of Togo, has sunk, while the second one, loaded with wheat, was on fire, Radev said, adding the 18-member crew on the second ship managed to evacuate and was rescued.
“The UN Administrator for the UNDP, Alexander De Croo, expressed concern on today’s attacks on grain-carrying vessels in the Black Sea, stressing that the Black Sea is a vital route for global food supplies. Noting that these attacks violate international law and endanger crews, the administrator warned that the consequences of these attacks reach far beyond the region, deepening food insecurity and undermining development where millions already face hunger, stressing that the world’s most vulnerable must not pay the price and food must never be a target,” Dujarric said.
The UNDP will publish a detailed policy brief this week that looks into the development impact of the compounding crisis, the spokesman added.
On the same day, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a social media post that the situation in the Black Sea is increasingly concerning.
Noting commercial ships and innocent crews are being targeted, she stressed that attacks on civilian shipping are unacceptable.
UN voices food security concern after drones attack two merchant ships in Black Sea
