With National Day and this year’s Mid Autumn Festival aligned, so Nanjing’s railway stations are bracing themselves for a rush not seen in a year, as passenger flow for the upcoming double holiday is forecast to largely return to 2019 levels.
It’s a mix of confidence and frustration that’s behind the predicted surge in travellers. Denied many of the rituals of a traditional Chinese New Year and with Covid at bay across mainland China, many now feel the time is right to get away for a few days.
Hence 2.38 million people are expected to depart both of Nanjing’s railway stations that cater to passenger traffic during the holiday, reports Nanjing Daily.
With an average, daily-passenger volume of 216,500, peak flow is expected on National Day itself, when 280,000 passengers shall be headed off on holiday from Nanjing.
All in all, 405,000 people shall be travelling long-distance, while short-distance journeys shall account for the majority, at a shade under 2 million.
If the predicted numbers stack up, passenger flow will have recovered to 78.3 percent of that of the same period last year, a sure-fire sign that normality has now returned to Nanjing.
In addition, Nanjing’s railway stations have arranged to open 43 pairs of short-distance passenger trains, namely additional services to and from Shanghai; Nantong and Xuzhou in Jiangsu Province; Bengbu, Fuyang and Wuhu in Anhui Province; and Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province.
Not since 2001 has Mid Autumn Festival occurred on 1 October, a double celebration which this year is providing us an extra day of holiday. As ever, to make up a little for lost economic productivity, the two Sundays on either side of the break, 27 September and 11 October, have been declared working days.
With Chinese New Year and National Day as China’s two major holidays, the absence of the former this year will have many using the latter by way of compensation, which should equate to good news for the beleaguered tourism and hospitality sector.
(Source: the Nanjinger)
