Hangzhoudong Railway Station is crowded with passengers. [Photo/Hangzhou News]

Hangzhou's railway network handled 21.58 million passenger trips during the 62-day summer travel rush from July 1 to Aug 31, averaging 348,100 trips per day.

Tourism and student travel accounted for much of the demand, with passenger flows generally remaining high. Daily trips exceeded 400,000 for 12 days, while Aug 17 set a summer travel record of 461,700 trips.

Hangzhoudong Railway Station handled the most trips, with 14.35 million, followed by Hangzhouxi with 2.82 million, Hangzhou Railway Station with 1.94 million, and Hangzhounan with 1.45 million. Other stations in the network handled a combined 1.02 million passenger trips.

Passenger traffic peaked from Aug 16 to 18 and Aug 21 to 24, with popular destinations including Beijing, Xi'an, Changsha, Xiamen, Wuhan, Ningbo, and Wenzhou. Student travel is expected to remain elevated through mid-September as colleges and universities begin the new academic year.

To meet demand, the railway network added 2,283 passenger train services during the summer rush, including additional nighttime trains from Hangzhoudong Railway Station on Fridays and Sundays and special trains for concertgoers on July 26, Aug 14, and Aug 16.

The railway network also provided nearly 15,000 reservation-based services for passengers requiring assistance during the summer rush and received more than 300 commendation forms.