China News Service, Guangzhou, October 15 (Guo Jun, Fang Jie, Dong Jianfeng) Statistics released by China Railway Guangzhou Bureau Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "China Railway Guangzhou Bureau") on the 15th show that from September 2021 to September 2026, the Bureau's cumulative passenger arrivals and departures exceeded 5.21 billion. In 2025, it will send 623 million passengers, an increase of 58.5% compared with 2021, setting a record high.
Behind the continuous increase in passenger flow is the systematic reshaping of the transportation organization model of the Guangzhou Bureau of China Railway over the past five years, the iterative upgrade of passenger service quality, and the in-depth integration of smart technology and travel scenarios.
According to reports, in the past five years, the Guangzhou Bureau of China Railway has broken the traditional thinking of "fixed operation chart" and built an integrated deployment system of "market perception-capacity response" with data intelligence empowerment.
“In the past, passenger flow was counted after passengers purchased tickets, but now the data comes first and trains are prepared in advance,” said Xie Chaofang, deputy director of the Passenger Transport Center of the Guangzhou Bureau of State Railway. At the Passenger Transport Center of Guangzhou Bureau of National Railways, a large screen scrolls the passenger flow dynamics in real time. The passenger situation awareness platform gathers pre-sale tickets, waiting orders, and historical data for the same period. Once the signs of passenger flow in popular directions are captured, the train additional plan is immediately launched. From analyzing the demand to adding the additional trains, it only takes one hour at the fastest.
"We focus on passenger satisfaction and waitlist redemption rate, coordinate the transportation resources of the point and line network within our management, and promote the linkage of waitlist ticket purchase data with the 'one picture per day', so as to increase passenger flow and increase transportation capacity, and reduce passenger flow and optimize transportation capacity," Xie Chaofang said. In view of the characteristics of tidal passenger flow, the State Railway Guangzhou Bureau implements the strategy of "stabilizing long-distance during the week and increasing within the management on weekends", and tilts short-distance transportation capacity to the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong High-speed Railway, the Chaoshan Section of the Hangzhou-Shenzhen Line, and the Wuhan-Guangzhou Section of the Beijing-Guangzhou High-speed Railway; it deeply taps transportation capacity by increasing the number of trains, reconnecting EMUs, short long trains, and operating night high-speed trains to ensure supply during peak peaks and no waste during flat peaks. Relying on the 12306 platform and large model technology, capacity scheduling extends from holidays to daily life, building a closed loop of "intelligent perception - precise decision-making - dynamic execution - scientific review", and scientifically allocating transportation capacity with massive travel data.
Since the beginning of this year, the State Railway Guangzhou Bureau has opened 84 additional themed special trains and 235 tourist trains. The response efficiency of transportation capacity has continued to improve.
In the first three quarters of this year, the cumulative number of cross-border passengers on the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong High-Speed Railway exceeded 29.406 million, crossing the 20 million mark 11 days earlier than last year. There were 15.654 million passengers from the mainland to Hong Kong and 13.752 million passengers from Hong Kong to the mainland. The popularity of two-way travel has not diminished. This high-speed railway has completed the transformation from restoration of traffic to public transportation operation.
It is reported that on January 15, 2023, train G5624 departed from Hong Kong West Kowloon Station, restarting the cross-border high-speed rail after nearly three years. In August of the same year, the "flexible train" from Futian to West Kowloon was launched and expanded to Shenzhen North Station in March 2024. High-speed rail travel between Shenzhen and Hong Kong has become increasingly convenient. In the past three years, the number of direct stations from Hong Kong to the mainland has expanded to 113, cross-border EMUs operate 242 times daily, and ordinary through trains from Beijing and Shanghai to Hong Kong have been upgraded to high-speed trains. The "weekend effect" of cross-border passenger flow has become prominent, with a historical peak of 149,000 passengers on April 4, 2026; on August 8, driven by performing arts events, cross-border passenger flow reached 136,000 in a single day, setting a new record for summer travel.
Over the past five years, the passenger transportation quality of the Guangzhou Bureau of China Railway has been continuously improved. For people who frequently travel for commuting and business trips, the State Railway Guangzhou Bureau has launched regular tickets and time-based tickets one after another, covering 12 key lines such as Guangzhou-Shenzhen Railway and Guangzhou-Zhuhai Intercity, with a minimum discount of 32%. In 2025, a total of 153,000 sets of regular time tickets will be sold, a year-on-year increase of 165.8%.
Thematic travel tickets such as "Hainan Island Roaming" and "Charming Western Hunan Travel" are innovatively launched, supporting one-time purchase, segmented rides, and a 15-day validity period, breaking the range restriction and making travel at will a reality. The high-speed railway's mobile and sleeper network continues to expand, "driving in the evening and arriving in the morning" has gradually become a new travel trend, and a multi-level mobile and sleeper product system has gradually taken shape. Regular-speed trains were simultaneously renovated, and the "seat-to-sleeper" project was implemented. 157 passenger cars were renovated and put online, and the proportion of sleeper berths increased from 49.7% to 56.7%. Z297 from Zhangjiajie to Beijing was upgraded to a direct express, and the journey time was shortened by 8 hours.
