Passengers wait to board their trains at Zhengzhou East Railway Station in Zhengzhou, China's Henan province, Jan 26, 2024. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

BEIJING – Some 195.24 million passenger trips were handled by China's transportation sectors on Friday, the Chinese Lunar New Year Eve, up 26.7 percent from the same day of last year, official statistics showed.

Of the total, highway traffic amounted to 184.62 million passenger trips, up 24.2 percent year on year, according to a special work team established in January to ensure the safety and sound operation of the year's Spring Festival travel rush.

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Railway traffic jumped 98.8 percent to 8.257 million trips while air trips surged 137.7 percent to 1.797 million, and passenger trips by water increased by 11.9 percent to 566,000. 

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The Chinese Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, China's most important festival, fell on Feb 10 this year. The travel rush, usually a period of high transportation demand as people return home for family reunions, lasts from Jan 26 to March 5.