BEIJING -- Chinese railways handled nearly 12.24 million passenger trips on Monday, the first day of the Spring Festival travel rush in 2026, China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. said Tuesday.

As of 8 am Tuesday, the nation's train ticket booking platform 12306 had sold 84.49 million train tickets for chunyun, a 40-day travel rush period that ends on March 13, according to the company.

It is expected that 11.15 million railway passenger trips will be made nationwide on Tuesday, the second day of the travel rush period, the company said, adding that an additional 879 trains have been arranged to meet demand.

Spring Festival, also known as Chinese New Year, falls on Feb 17 this year, and the official holiday lasts nine days.

The annual travel rush is expected to generate a record 9.5 billion inter-regional passenger trips. Of the total, an estimated 540 million passenger trips will be handled by the country's railways.