Volunteers ready to serve at the bus service counter at Hangzhou East Railway Station, Zhejiang province [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang province, recently issued a series of measures to ease the homeward travel rush for the upcoming Spring Festival, local media reported on Jan 16.

Starting from Jan 21, the 40-day Spring Festival travel rush is expected to see a total of approximately 20.64 million passengers use the inter-city traffic system (roads, railway, airport and waterway) in Hangzhou, a year-on-year increase of 3.2 percent.

Amongst the measures, facial recognition systems will be put into use at the entrances of Hangzhou Railway Station, Hangzhou East Railway Station as well as stations along the Hangzhou-Huangshan railway route, in a bid to ensure the safety of travellers.

Roughly 89 railway trips will be added at Hangzhou Railway Station.

Moreover, personalized bus services provided to passengers with similar commute routes will also be available at Hangzhou East Railway Station, so as to ease the difficulty of hailing a taxi in the capital.

In terms of air travel, Hangzhou is expected to see 32,900 flights carrying 4.49 million travelers at Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport, up 5 percent and 6 percent year-on-year, respectively.

Hundreds of millions of Chinese return to their hometowns every year during the Chinese Lunar New Year to get together with their families.

The 2019 Year of the Pig in the Chinese lunar calendar will begin on Feb 5.