Ministry of Transport: Regional travel down 1.9% on Oct 1 holiday

China's Ministry of Transport released data on October 2, 2026, indicating that on the first day of the National Day holiday, October 1, 2026, the total regional travel volume nationwide reached 329.5 million passenger trips. This figure represents a 1.9% decrease compared to the same day last year but a 50.2% increase from the previous day.

Breaking down the figures, railway passenger volume was 25.2 million, an increase of 9.0% year-on-year. Road travel accounted for 300.4 million passenger trips, a decrease of 2.8%. Within road transport, commercial passenger volume was 44.7 million (+8.5% year-on-year), while non-commercial passenger vehicles on expressways and national/provincial roads accounted for 255.7 million passenger trips (-4.5% year-on-year).

Water transport saw 1.4 million passengers, up 7.2% from the previous year. Air passenger volume reached 2.5 million, a slight increase of 0.5% year-on-year. Despite the overall slight decline in regional travel compared to the previous year, most individual transport modes showed growth.

The data reflects the travel patterns during the initial phase of China's major holiday period, highlighting a slight year-on-year decrease in overall regional movement while individual transport sectors experienced varying degrees of recovery and growth.