The high-speed sleeper train D909 bound for Hong Kong's West Kowloon Station departs from Beijing West Railway Station in Beijing, capital of China, June 15, 2024.The high-speed sleeper train D909 bound for Hong Kong's West Kowloon Station departs from Beijing West Railway Station in Beijing, capital of China, June 15, 2024. (Photo: Xinhua)

China's railway transportation is expected to handle 860 million passenger trips during the summertime holidays, with daily average of 13.87 million passenger trips, China State Railway Group (China Railway) said on Monday.

China Railway Group announced an increase in transport capacity and more measures taken to increase access and convenience for travelers during the summer holidays from July 1 to August 31. Students and their families consist of a bigger chunk of the travel peak, as compared to past years. 

The company announced to add 276 temporary passenger trains daily, on the current basis of operating 11,500 passenger trains per day to meet the rising demand.

Travel-related consumption during the summer holidays is anticipated to exceed traditional Chinese festivals and the Golden Weeks, Zhang Lingyun, a professor at the Beijing International Studies University, told Global Times on Monday, Zhang said that increased number of tourists will help boost the economy.

China Railway vowed to meet rising market demand by operating special tourism routes and collaborating with scenic spots and hotels to boost the summer tourism economy. 

Zhang said that the rising momentum in summer travel and tourism-induced consumption is a certainty this year. "The regions benefiting economically from the summer travel rush may vary each year, depending on their climate conditions", Zhang said.

China's northeast and northwest provinces, where are cooler in summer, are popular destinations favored by travelers, data from online travel service platform Qunar showed.
 
Meanwhile, Chinese airlines are kept busy during summer holidays. Beijing Daxing International Airport forecasts that from July 1 to August 31, the airport will likely process 8.8 million passenger trips.

China Southern Airlines plans to increase 1,000 flights to Kashi, Xining, and Yinchuan cities, and China Eastern Airlines singled out the Xinjiang region as an important market for the carrier. China Eastern announced on Monday plans to deploy nearly 800 passenger flights, including six C919 aircraft from July 1 to August 31. 

Global Times