By outdoor-nature-child.com During the National Day holiday, China’s railway system played a crucial role not only in accommodating a large influx of travelers but also in facilitating a surge in the transportation of essential goods. From the onset of the holiday through October 7, the national railway reported a remarkable total cargo shipment volume of 104 million tons.
As temperatures dropped in northern China during the holiday festivities, coal transport from Xinjiang experienced a significant uptick. On average, the Xinjiang railway moved an impressive 230,000 tons of coal each day to various regions. Since the beginning of 2024, Xinjiang’s coal supply network has expanded its reach from the northwest and southwest to include areas such as Hubei, Hunan, and Hebei.
In a noteworthy development just before the holiday, a freight train carrying over 2,600 tons of calcium carbonate departed from Wudang Mountain Station in Hubei, bound for Shencheng South Station in Yulin, Shaanxi. This event marked a milestone for the Wuhan Railway Bureau, which utilized an empty return cargo train for “extra cargo transport” for the first time.
The year 2024 has seen the introduction of several new high-speed rail lines, which have bolstered the “eight vertical and eight horizontal” high-speed rail network and opened up additional capacity for conventional freight services. Just before the holiday, the operational mileage of China’s railways surpassed 160,000 kilometers, creating advantageous conditions for cost reduction and enhanced efficiency in freight transportation.
Data from the China State Railway Group indicates that during the National Day holiday transportation period until October 7, an average of 189,000 freight cars were loaded daily. This marks an increase of 4,461 cars compared to the same timeframe last year, which translates to a growth rate of 2.4%.