The transportation plan for the 2026 "May Day" holiday in the Yangtze River Delta has recently been released. According to the plan, the holiday transport period runs from April 29 to May 6, totaling eight days. During this time, the region's railways are expected to handle 31.8 million passengers, with an average of 3.975 million per day — a 5% increase year-on-year, marking the highest average daily passenger volume for any "May Day" holiday transport period on record.

This year, as temperatures rise across much of the country during the holiday, and with spring breaks in several regions — including Zhejiang, Hunan, Shandong, Gansu, and Xinjiang — extending into the "May Day" break, public enthusiasm for interprovincial travel is expected to be further stimulated. According to a staff member from the Passenger Transport Department of China Railway Shanghai Group, passenger demand during the holiday will be highly concentrated, with travel primarily for tourism and family visits. Compared to the recently concluded Qingming holiday, the "May Day" travel period in the Yangtze River Delta will see earlier travel peaks, more pronounced surges at the beginning and end of the period, a higher share of short- and medium-distance trips, and a longer overall peak duration.

Looking at the passenger flow trends during the holiday transport period, travel between the Yangtze River Delta and direct destinations such as Beijing, Xi'an, Fuzhou, and Xiamen is expected to be extremely busy. Meanwhile, significant increases in passenger flow are also anticipated on several intra-regional routes, including Shanghai–Nanjing, Shanghai–Hangzhou, and Nanjing–Hangzhou. In terms of passenger distribution, the Yangtze River Delta region will see concentrated outbound travel during the first three days of the holiday transport period (April 29 to May 1), and concentrated return travel during the last three days (May 4 to 6). The peak of passenger flow is expected on May 1, with an estimated 4.4 million passengers to be transported that day — setting a new record for single-day passenger volume during any "May Day" holiday transport period.

Given the anticipated significant increase in passenger volume during this "May Day" holiday, the Yangtze River Delta railway authorities will coordinate capacity planning and increase transport supply. A three-stage approach to capacity deployment will be adopted: fully operating the base schedule with maximum train lengths, prioritizing high-quality temporary passenger trains, and rolling out other temporary trains in phases. The total number of passenger trains operated will reach up to 1,701.5 pairs, the highest for any comparable period on record. For long-distance routes, on top of the 28 scheduled peak-period pairs, an additional 76 pairs of long-distance passenger trains are planned, primarily to meet travel demand to neighboring provinces of the Yangtze River Delta as well as popular tourist destinations such as Beijing and Northwest China. The main directions for these additional long-distance trains include the Yangtze River Delta to Jiangxi, Hubei, Shandong, Henan, Beijing, and Northwest China. For intra-regional routes, on top of the 36 scheduled peak-period pairs, an additional 192.5 pairs of passenger trains are planned. The main directions for these additional intra-regional trains include Xuzhou–Bengbu, Shanghai–Hangzhou, Fuyang–Hefei, Xuzhou–Nanjing, Xuzhou–Quzhou, Xuzhou–Suzhou, Xuzhou–Shanghai, Bengbu–Shanghai, Fuyang–Shanghai, as well as multiple routes within Anhui Province. 

Source: Hefei Daily