A train every 40 seconds: how Chinese rail station handled record 1 million trips in a day
Por Ralph Jennings — South China Morning Post – News feed
Advertisement China travel Economy A train every 40 seconds: how Chinese rail station handled record 1 million trips in a day
Holiday demand pushes Guangzhou South past 1 million trips on October 1, with trains departing every 40 seconds at peak periods
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Ralph Jennings Published: 2:39pm, 6 Oct 2026
A railway station in southern China’s hub city Guangzhou has set a national record for trips in a single day and drawn attention for the frequency of train departures – one every 40 seconds – during this month’s holiday period, according to the provincial government.
Guangzhou South Railway Station handled 1,252 train services and just over 1 million trips on October 1, the start of the seven-day National Day holiday across mainland China, the publicity department of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee said on its WeChat account.
Crossing the 1 million-trip milestone was a first for China, it added.
At peak periods that day, trains departed every 40 seconds, an interval the publicity department said was “faster than people could scroll through short videos”.
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