Surge in passenger trips showcases China's robust transportation network

China's Spring Festival travel rush this year, which concluded on Saturday, witnessed over 9 billion passenger trips, setting multiple records and showcasing the country's robust transportation system and its capability to manage the largest annual human migration, the Ministry of Transport said on Sunday.

The 40-day travel period, which began on Jan 14, recorded a total of 9.02 billion passenger trips, marking a 7.1 percent year-on-year increase, the ministry said.

Of these trips, 513 million were made by rail, up 6.1 percent year-on-year, while air travel accounted for 90.2 million trips, up 7.4 percent compared with the same period last year. Both railway and civil aviation passenger volumes reached new highs during the travel rush.