The Ministry of Communications said Monday that 609 million journeys had been made by bus or railway since January 30 when the annual Spring Festival travel season began, up 8.5 percent from the same period last year.

A total of 63.3 million journeys were made by bus or railway on Monday in spite of weather disruptions in some regions, said the Ministry.

Spring Festival is the most important Chinese festival for family reunion. People return home from work or study to have a reunion dinner with families on the New Year's Eve.

A total of 2.54 billion journeys are expected in the 40 days of mass passenger transportation for the traditional Chinese Lunar New Year, which falls on February 14 this year.

The travel season, or Chunyun (spring transportation), is an annual test on China's transportation systems.

(Xinhua News Agency February 9, 2010)