Spring Festival travel rush to see 188 mln cross-regional trips on first day

BEIJING, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- China is estimated to record 187.91 million cross-regional passenger trips on Monday, the first day of the 2026 Spring Festival travel rush, marking a 13 percent rise from the first day of the 2025 travel rush, according to transportation authorities.

Specifically, road travel is projected to reach 173.12 million trips, also up 13 percent year on year. Railway travel is expected to hit 12 million trips, surging 15.5 percent from a year ago.

Waterway passenger transport is forecast at 600,000 trips, up 12.7 percent year on year. Civil aviation is set to handle 2.19 million passenger trips, a 5.3 percent increase from the corresponding day in 2025.

The Spring Festival, also known as Chinese New Year, falls on Feb. 17 this year. The official holiday lasts for nine days. This year's travel rush will last from Feb. 2 to March 13. ■