China sees over 6m rail passenger trips on first day of travel rush

Around 6.3 million passenger trips are expected to be made across China on Saturday, the first day of this year's Spring Festival travel rush, the national railway operator China State Railway Group said.

Sufficient services will be provided in accordance with the passengers' needs, according to the company.

In Beijing, the high-speed train G6701 left Beijing West Railway Station and headed Handan in neighboring Hebei province at 5:34 am, the first train to leave the capital during the holiday rush.

The station, one of the major railway stations in the capital, is expected to handle 79,000 passenger trips on Saturday.