China braces for rail travel rush as holiday ends

BEIJING, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese people are expected to make 12.5 million trips on railway on Tuesday, the final day of the Tomb-sweeping Day holiday, said China Railway, the national railway operator.

A total of 542 passenger trains are expected to be added for the day to deal with the travel rush, said the railway operator.

Tomb-sweeping Day, also known as Qingming Festival, is the most important occasion for Chinese to honor their ancestors.

On Monday, more than 10 million trips were made on railways, up 12.7 percent from last year's Tomb-sweeping day holiday, said China Railway.

The company said it had adopted a series of measures during the holiday, including adding more trains and opening more self-service ticketing machines.