During the following two months, railways across the country are expected to handle at least 158.4 million passenger journeys, mainly by college students on vacations, tourists and migrant workers, according to officials at the ministry.

The ministry's original plan set the average daily passenger volume at 2.4 million passenger journeys in July and 2.8 million in August -- down by nearly one million respectively compared with the daily figures for the same months of last year.

But as the World Health Organization has lifted all of its travel advisories against the areas that had been affected by severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in China, the daily railway passenger volume has already surged to 2.4 million. The ministry is revising its plan to meet rising demand.

The ministry has made full preparation to handle the increasing passenger volumes by adding extra trains and opening new routes to divert passengers.

(People's Daily July 1, 2003)