TibetanReview.net, Jan 23, 2008
China expected some 800,000 people to avail the Spring Time (Chinese New Year) passenger transport facility provided by Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), reported China’s online Tibet news service en.tibet.cn Jan 16. It said the figure was six percent more than last year. The Chinese Spring Festival is on Feb 7, the day on which Tibetans will also celebrate their coming New Year festival of Losar.
A Xinhua report Jan 16 said the Lhasa Railway Station alone would send off around 100,000 passengers during Chunyun – the 40-day transport period for the Spring Festival – up 9.8 percent over last year. However, another Xinhua report Jan 16 said the railway would transport 650,000 people, up 5.9 percent.
An en.tibet.cn report Jan 18 said freight services will be temporarily suspended and provisional passenger trains added while more ticket windows would be opened and booking hours extended to facilitate the Spring Festival Chinese travellers’ movements. One such provisional train will be running between Qinghai’s capital Xining and Shaanxi’s capital Xian, the report said.