China's railways carried 75.05 million passengers between January 11-27, or in the first 17 days of the 40-day Spring Festival travel rush.

The figure represents a 17 percent increase from a year earlier, the Ministry of Railways (MOR) said on Wednesday.

The ministry has ordered to add more transport capacity to provinces and municipalities including Sichuan, Chongqing, and Jiangxi to brace for the post-holiday traffic rush. The regions are homes to the largest number of migrant rural workers.

Hundreds of millions of Chinese went home for family gatherings in the lunar new year holiday, the most important traditional one in China, creating the world's largest population migration.

In addition, 114.7 million passengers have traveled by road between Jan. 25-28, up 5.4 percent from the same period last year. Short trips account for 80 percent of the total in the first four days of the seven-day Spring Festival holiday.

(Xinhua News Agency January 29, 2009)