Passengers purchase train tickets at a railway station in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, Jan. 19, 2026. (Photo by Su Yang/Xinhua)
BEIJING, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- Train tickets for the first day of the 2026 Spring Festival travel rush went on sale on Monday, China's railway operator said.
This year's travel rush period, known as chunyun, will run from Feb. 2 to March 13, according to China State Railway Group Co., Ltd.
The national railway network is expected to handle 539 million passenger trips during the 40-day period this year, representing a 5 percent increase from the 2025 chunyun, the company said.
Each year during the Spring Festival travel rush, millions of people who work, study, or live away from their hometowns return home to reunite with their families for the Spring Festival, China's most important traditional holiday, forming the world's largest annual human migration.
This year's Spring Festival will fall on Feb. 17. To better accommodate the surge in travel demand, railway operators have rolled out a range of service upgrades, including a limited-time free refund policy for mistakenly purchased tickets, expanded "quiet carriage" services, and discounted tickets for students. ■
Passengers purchase train tickets at a railway station in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Jan. 19, 2026. (Photo by Zhao Jun/Xinhua)
A passenger purchases train ticket at a railway station in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, Jan. 19, 2026. (Photo by Sun Zhongnan/Xinhua)
A staff member handles ticketing services for passengers at a railway station in Nanjing, east China's Jiangsu Province, Jan. 19, 2026. (Photo by Su Yang/Xinhua)
A passenger purchases train ticket at a railway station in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, Jan. 19, 2026. (Photo by Zhao Jun/Xinhua)
A passenger purchases train tickets at a railway station in Changxing County of east China's Zhejiang Province, Jan. 19, 2026. (Photo by Tan Yunfeng/Xinhua)
Passengers purchase train tickets at a railway station in Yangzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, Jan. 19, 2026. (Photo by Meng Delong/Xinhua)
Passengers purchase train tickets at a railway station in Yangzhou, east China's Jiangsu Province, Jan. 19, 2026. (Photo by Meng Delong/Xinhua)
