The Ministry of Railway is forecasting that 210m passengers will use the network over the Spring Festival, with New Year’s Day falling on 14 February this year. The peak time will start on 30 January and extra services will be available to allow migrant workers to go home, especially on lines from the major cities of Guangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai. After the holiday period, the focus will be on Chengdu, Chongqing, Wuhan, Nanchang and some regions of Hunan province to transport people to their jobs in the coastal cities.

Last year, the railway system collapsed under a record volume of home-returning migrant workers and heavy snow storms, resulting in Premier Wen Jiabao apologising personally to stranded passengers.