On July 7, the 1-day 62 national railway summer transportation "departed", officially expected to send 2023 million passengers, a significant increase over the same period in 7. As the first summer after the epidemic, it is expected that behind the increase in passenger traffic is the release of travel demand, which shows the continuous recovery of the economy, and the increasingly frequent movement of some industrial workers between regions. It is worth noting that this year's average number of high temperature (daily maximum temperature ≥6°C) is the highest in the same period since 2019. The high temperature has brought challenges to this year's summer transportation, whether it is power supply or service guarantee, the railway department needs to actively prepare for "baking".
It is expected to send 62 million people in 7 days
On July 7, a reporter from Beijing Business Daily learned from China National Railway Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "China Railway Group") that the 1-day 62 national railway summer transportation was launched. Unlike the previous three years, the 2023 summer is the first summer after the epidemic, and the relevant departments will also face a new situation, one of which is the growth of passenger traffic.
According to the China Railway Group, from July 7 to August 1, the national railway is expected to send 8 million passengers, with an average of more than 31 million passengers per day. This represents a significant increase over the same period in 7. It is reported that in the summer of 6, the national railway sent a total of 1200 million passengers.
From a single-day point of view, in the summer of 2019, the average daily passenger sending volume was 1186.2 million, an increase of 111.7 million year-on-year; the number of days sent by more than 1100 million passengers in a single day reached 51 days, and the number of passengers sent more than 1200 million passengers reached 24 days. This year, it is expected to send more than 1200 million passengers per day. From a local point of view, the number of people transported may also increase significantly. Taking Beijing as an example, during the summer of 2019, the Beijing Railway Bureau sent a total of 6796.15 million passengers; in 2023, the Beijing Bureau of China Railway is expected to send 7115.114 million passengers in the summer, with an average daily average of 8.<> million, a significant increase over previous years.
In addition to a significant increase in numbers, the transportation environment has been different this year. According to China Weather Network, since the beginning of this year (as of June 6), the average high temperature (daily maximum temperature ≥30 °C) days in China is 35.4 days, 1.2 days more than the same period of the year (2.1 days), and the most since 9.
It is worth noting that the National Climate Center predicts that in the middle of summer (July-August) this year, the temperature in North China, Central Central and Southern China, and Northeast China will be 7-8 °C higher than the same period of the year, and there will be a phased high temperature process.
Multiple factors drive up passenger flow
According to the information of China Railway Group, this summer, railway passenger flow is expected to remain high. Song Xiangqing, deputy dean of the Institute of Government Management at Beijing Normal University, told the Beijing Business Daily reporter that this is because in the first summer vacation after the epidemic, many students want to travel. In addition, due to the economic recovery after the epidemic, the entire commercial market is constantly recovering, and the movement of workers in some industries between regions is more frequent.
Wang Peng, an associate researcher at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, also pointed out that this is caused by the superposition of several factors. "First, a lot of travel demand has been suppressed under the influence of the epidemic in previous years, and this year this demand has been released. Second, the core theme of the first half of this year is to expand domestic demand, maintain growth, and promote consumption, and various activities have been held in various places, whether it is tourist reception areas, scenic spots, enterprises, or local governments, mobilizing everyone's enthusiasm for travel. Third, in recent times, a large number of Internet celebrity check-in places and Internet celebrity attractions have emerged across the country, and the weather is relatively good during the summer Olympics, which can attract tourists to go out. Combined with three factors, this year's summer passenger flow is expected to exceed that of 2019. ”
In terms of specific travel characteristics, Wang Peng believes that the routes of summer transportation in previous years actually have some key areas, such as popular attractions, popular cities, etc., but this year whether it is long-distance or short-distance may be very hot, in the past more railway management-related resources concentrated on popular cities, popular lines, now a variety of small lines may also have small peaks, railway departments need to do a positive response to this.
In addition, Wang Peng pointed out that this year's temperature is abnormally high, which means that the railway department needs to do a good job in energy supply, and there may be a power shortage in summer, which needs to be planned in advance. At the same time, in terms of service, passengers may suffer from heat stroke and physical discomfort under excessive heat, and relevant system preparations, material preparations, and emergency drills are also required.
Railway department actively prepares "baking"
While passenger traffic is growing, the railway sector will also face pressure to keep pace with the growth of service and management. It is reported that the railway department has coordinated the organization of passenger and freight transportation and formulated a summer transportation plan to meet the needs of passenger travel and key material transportation.
The third-quarter train operation chart has been implemented simultaneously on July 7, the Beijing-Tianjin intercity railway and the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong high-speed railway have expanded their capacity, increased the number of high-speed trains in and out of the northeast, improved the quality operation of the western railway network, compressed the running time of general speed passenger trains, comprehensively adjusted the operation lines of tourist trains, and achieved new improvements in railway passenger capacity. On this basis, during the summer period, the capacity between popular directions and major tourist cities will be increased, and 1 direct temporary passenger trains will be arranged to operate across the railway bureau group company, including 148 EMUs. At the same time, according to the change of passenger flow, short-distance passenger trains can be flexibly opened at any time, and passenger seats can be effectively increased through the reconnection operation of EMUs, and the addition of trailer cars for general speed passenger trains.
At the same time, the railway department will also make full use of the capacity of major freight corridors such as Lanxin, Shenshan, Haoji and Beijing-Kowloon railways, vigorously increase the number of freight trains, improve the capacity of Baotong and BaoChang, and ensure the demand for Xinjiang coal transportation, northern coal southern transportation, and northern grain southern transportation. Strengthen the supply and transportation of thermal coal, and tilt the transportation capacity of the coal demand of power generation enterprises to provide guarantee for the peak summer in various places. Maintain the stable operation of China-Europe trains, the western land-sea new channel trains, and the cross-border freight trains of the China-Laos Railway, and ensure the safety and smoothness of the international industrial chain and supply chain.
In terms of improving the travel experience of passengers, we will strengthen the guidance and boarding and landing organization of passengers waiting for passengers entering the station during peak hours, open up green channels for key passengers such as the elderly, children, sickness, disabled and pregnant, do a good job in basic services such as air conditioning, catering, and water supply at stations, and closely connect with municipal transportation such as buses and subways, and strive to create a warm journey. Actively promote new ticketing products such as time-counting tickets and fixed-term tickets, and make good use of new services and new functions such as 12306 online shop selection and online verification of student discount tickets.
In addition, paying attention to the environmental characteristics of summer transportation, the railway department will also ensure the safety and smooth flow of railways. Organize flood prevention and flood control work, implement the strategy of "advanced prevention, active avoidance, and effective rush", strengthen the inspection and maintenance of railway tracks, bridges, tunnels and other equipment and facilities, strengthen early warning and monitoring of natural disasters, and take active risk avoidance measures such as adjusting paths, reducing speed operation, and reducing trains in response to possible flood conditions in local areas to ensure the safety of high-speed trains and passenger trains.
Beijing Business Daily reporter Fang Binnan and Ran Lili