Beijing's two railway stations are expected to receive 13.6 million passengers in upcoming Spring Festival, or China's Lunar New Year, which falls on Jan. 29 this year, according to railway station forecast.

The Beijing Western Railway Station will carry 7.46 million passengers and the Beijing Railway Station will receive 6.16 million passengers, representing a year on year increase of 6.8 percent respectively.

A source with the Beijing Railway Station said it would handle about 154,000 passengers daily, with the peak passenger flow expecting to reach 200,000 persons.

Millions of Chinese, including migrant workers, college students and others working far away from their hometowns, rush to home for a family Reunion during each year's Spring Festival, an important occasion for Chinese families, similar to Christmas in the western countries.

The peak period of transportation for upcoming Spring Festival will start from Jan. 14 and last 40 days before ending in late February.

Beijing railway authorities have made full preparations for helping people back home smoothly this year.

The Beijing Railway Station will open an additional 200 windows to sell tickets around the clock and has added 114 pairs of temporary trains on regular railway lines to ship holiday makers back home and vice versa after the holiday season.

Passenger flow throughout China will hit 2,042 billion persons in the 2006 Spring Festival period, up 3.1 percent over the corresponding period of last year, according to official forecast.

(Xinhua News Agency January 5, 2006)