Railway passengers set to depart from China's capital Beijing to southwest China's Chongqing, Jan. 24, 2016 on Train No. 3603, the first train of this year's 40-day-longSpring Festival travel rush. Over 2.9 billion trips will be made around the Spring Festival travel rush this year, traffic authorities estimated. Spring Festival, China's most important holiday centering around family reunions, will fall on Feb. 8. [Photo by Chen Boyuan / China.org.cn]

1月24日零时，2016年春运拉开帷幕。零时11分，第一趟加开旅客列车——北京站至重庆北的3603次由北京站开出。3603次列车定员1494人，全列编组19辆，其中硬座6节、软卧代软座2节、硬卧代硬座9节、餐车1节。截至23日20时，该车车票已全部售罄。[陈博渊 摄]