China domestic travellers head home after 8-day Oct. 1-8 holiday, some 2.4 billion trips completed

China just experienced one of its busiest travel days of the year, as millions returned home with the conclusion of the eight-day holiday, where the National Day coincided with the Mid-Autumn Festival, Sixth Tone reported.

A photo of a traffic jam near a toll station in Chuzhou, Anhui province, on Oct. 7, showed the extent of the congestion that motorists faced.

More people travelling this year

The Ministry of Transport in China expected a record 2.4 billion trips, an average of 304 million per day, between Oct. 1 and 8, an increase of 6.2 per cent from last year.

As driving remained the top choice of travellers, road travel alone accounted for some 285 million trips on Oct. 7 alone, a 20 per cent year-on-year increase.

China’s rail network was expected to handle about 153 million passengers, up 2.6 per cent from 2024.

Air travel was the least utilised mode of transport, but it was still expected to see more than 19 million passengers in slightly over a week.

Measures to mitigate jams

Concerns were raised about road safety, as China had been experiencing heavy rains and a fall of temperatures of over 10°C.

Authorities responded by rolling out nationwide measures to ease congestion.

For example, in the eastern Anhui province, the country’s largest toll gate, Wuzhuang Toll Station, opened all 36 lanes to traffic.

Real-time monitoring to predict peak hours and adjust lane directions was also employed to manage flows.

Railway stations and airports extended service hours and added volunteers to guide passengers.

Waiting rooms were also opened overnight in major cities including Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Nanjing.

Strains on EV charging network

However, the surge in travellers caused long queues at highway service areas in the central Hunan province and southern Guangdong.

There was also strains on the the electric vehicle charging network, with some drivers reportedly waiting more than three hours to recharge.

But there were solutions.

In Hunan, authorities set up 144 new charging points and 22 liquid-cooled supercharging stations at more than 15 service areas.

These offered charging speeds of up to 1km of range per second.

Top photo via cgtneurope