Guangzhou South Railway Station handled 1,252 train services and just over 1 million passenger trips on October 1, setting a mainland Chinese record for single-day station traffic at the start of the seven-day National Day holiday, South China Morning Post reported.
Crossing the 1 million-trip threshold marked a first for China. At peak periods during that single day, trains departed the station every 40 seconds. The publicity department of the Guangdong provincial Communist Party committee described this frequency on its WeChat account as an interval faster than people could scroll through short videos
.
For comparison, combined Shinkansen bullet train departures at Tokyo Station reach up to 24 trains per hour during peak periods, averaging one departure every 2.5 minutes.
Guangzhou South Integrates Railway Hubs for High Traffic
The volume highlights the specific engineering and urban design behind Guangzhou South. Peng Peng, executive chairman of the Guangdong Society of Reform—a think tank associated with the provincial government—noted that the station was intentionally designed to handle high traffic volumes. Guangzhou South is one of five major railway hubs in the provincial capital, a city of 18.7 million people. The facility features 15 platforms and 28 tracks.
Guangzhou moved early to integrate its subway system, intercity railways, and high-speed rail lines to make travel relatively “seamless”, Peng explained. To manage the October holiday rush, the hub expanded its transfer areas and departure lanes, upgraded passenger information services, and added train services based on wait-list data. These extra runs strengthened connections to major cities including Shenzhen, Changsha, Nanning, and Zhuhai.
During China’s National Day holiday, Guangzhou South Railway Station set a daily record of one million passengers, operating 24/7 with over 1,200 high-speed trains arranged in order. It maintains stable operation despite dense train schedules and huge crowds. Many only see the…
China State Railway Group Projects Record Passenger Trips
The October 1 surge formed part of a broader seasonal travel peak. The China State Railway Group projected a record 284 million passenger trips nationwide during a 16-day period covering both the National Day break and the Mid-Autumn Festival in late September. To accommodate demand, Guangzhou South operated 202 overnight high-speed services for the October holiday, accounting for roughly one-sixth of all trains departing the station on a single day.
| Metric | Guangzhou South Railway Station | Tokyo Station (Shinkansen Peak) |
|---|---|---|
| Peak Departure Frequency | Every 40 seconds | Every 2.5 minutes (up to 24 trains/hour) |
| Single-Day Record Trips | 1 million+ (October 1) | Not applicable (regional comparison) |
| Single-Day Train Services | 1,252 (October 1) | Varies by network schedule |
| Platforms and Tracks | 15 platforms, 28 tracks | Not specified |
The station currently connects passengers to a total of 196 cities, including long-distance links to Beijing and Hong Kong. When you add all this together, it’s not rocket science to see why Guangzhou South is as busy as it gets,
said David Feng, an independent railway specialist.
