Holiday safety checks to protect travelers

: 0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China Daily, October 1, 2011

Adjust font size:

The Ministry of Transport on Friday urged local traffic authorities to enhance safety checks and be vigilant about traffic security during the seven-day National Day holiday that starts Saturday.

Passengers wait in lines to enter the subway station at the square of Beijing Railway Station on Sept 30, 2011, one day before the week-long National Day holiday. [Photo/Xinhua]

The ministry has ordered local traffic bureaus to step up safety inspections for long-distance buses, and has encouraged bus companies to halt overnight buses, said ministry spokesman He Jianzhong.

In addition, the ministry will dispatch 10,000 workers and more than 1,200 rescue boats to aid maritime traffic security, with 21 specialized helicopters available for rescue operations.

He told a news conference in Beijing last week that some 530 million trips will be made during the National Day holiday this year, nearly 10 percent more than last year.

The ministry has arranged more than 830,000 long-distance buses with a capacity of 20 million seats to reinforce the nationwide transport system, he said.

Meanwhile 21,000 watercraft with a capacity of 900,000 are also standing by to relieve any pressure.

"The crowd is at least triple that of usual days," said an employee surnamed Xue in Southwest Guiyang's Jinyang bus station.

"The number has gradually increased for the last three days."

Xue said the station has arranged at least a dozen extra employees to keep order in the ticket hall.

The nation's civil aviation authorities also issued fresh contingency plans to deal with flight delays that may be caused by unexpected weather, according to Xinhua News Agency.

Xia Wenjun, a manager from Global International Travel, a travel agency based in Hefei, Anhui province, told xksq.net that their fees have increased by around 20 percent this year as the prices for hotels and tickets in scenic areas have gone up.

"The number of tourists driving on their own has increased in recent years and it leads to extra travelers," said Li Xinjian, a professor of School of Tourism Management at Beijing International Studies University.

Li told China Daily that driving on one's own takes up excessive space compared to other types of traveling.

"We should encourage other means of traveling," he said.

Li also said the estimated extra number of trips will not overburden the nation's transport system.

Xinhua contributed to this story.