China's railways brace for post-holiday travel rush

Crowds of passengers walked into Beijing northern railway station on Feb. 15, 2013. (Xinhua/Zhang Yu).

China's railways will be tested Friday, when passenger flows peak at the end of the Spring Festival holiday.

Some 7.41 million trips will be made on the country's railways with travelers returning to work as the week-long Lunar New Year celebration draws to a close, the Ministry of Railways said.

The ministry deployed 783 temporary trains on Friday to cope with increasing demand for seats.

The Spring Festival, an important occasion for Chinese family reunions, marks the world's largest annual human migration. This year's travel season kicked off on Jan. 26 and will last until March 6.

The ministry forecast that a total 224.5 million trips would be made on railways during the travel season, representing a daily average travel volume of 5.61 million.