China's Ministry of Railways (MOR) announced Tuesday it will put into operation 586 more trains each day for this year's Spring Festival 40-day travel peak compared to the corresponding period last year.

Daily train departures during the travel rush, which starts on Jan. 19, will be 4,531, a year-on-year increase of 15 percent .

The MOR estimates that 6.2 million passengers will be transported by train each day, up 11 percent year on year.

Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, is China's most important holiday during which people return home to be with family. This year it falls on Feb. 3.

The MOR predicted passenger number to rise 12.5 percent to 230 million during this year's Spring Festival travel rush, averaging 5.75 million passenger journeys per day.

(Xinhua News Agency January 4, 2011)