The waiting hall of Guangzhou East Railway Station was unveiled to travelers after a major facelift Sunday.

The new waiting room, which can accommodate 20,000 passengers and offers more than 6,000 seats, is said to be the largest railway waiting room in China, the Nanfang Daily reported.

The massive lobby, which covers 13,000 square meters, is segregated into 15 waiting rooms for the Spring Festival travel peak.

The fourth floor is designed for long distance travelers. Its 5,000-square-meter waiting hall can accommodate nearly 7,000 travelers at a time. Now travelers can stay in the waiting rooms for 24 hours with valid tickets, a longer time than the previously regulated six hours before departure.

The facelift also included improved service features such as electronic signboards and more comprehensive direction boards.

Guangzhou Railway Station including the east station sent nearly 200,000 travelers home Sunday. In the past week since the start of the Spring Festival travel seas January 14, the railway station has sent 1.37 million travelers home, 9.1 percent more than the same period of last year.

To divert the passenger flow, Guangzhou Railway Group added 120 temporary trains Sunday, a record in the group's history.

The group had added 1,000 more trains to ease the traffic congestion in the past 10 days.

(Shenzhen Daily January 24, 2006)