Roughly 21.42 million people traveled by train in China during the three-day New Year holiday, with stringent COVID-19 precautions in place, data from the country's railway operator showed Monday.

The peak rail passenger flow came on Jan. 1, the first day of the three-day New Year holiday, as 8.44 million passenger trips were recorded, said the China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. The number saw a decline compared to 9.89 million passenger trips made on Jan. 1, 2021.

About 5.68 million rail passenger trips were made on Sunday, the second day of the holiday, the railway operator said, forecasting 7.3 million rail trips on Monday, the last day of the holiday.

Due to COVID-19, more people prefer to drive than take public transportation. Currently, China's highway traffic volume has significantly surpassed the pre-pandemic level and is estimated to remain high during the upcoming Spring Festival travel rush.