China saw railway passenger trips climb 48.7% year on year to over 100 million after the Spring Festival, as the country's shift in COVID-19 response unleashed pent-up travel demand.

A total of 102 million trips were made by train from January 22 to February 1, 33.51 million more than the same period last year, data from China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. shows.

The company said 9.31 million passenger trips were made on average daily in the period, about 90% of the pre-pandemic level in 2019.

Additional trains were put into operation to meet the rising travel demand, and "point-to-point" trains sent migrant workers back to their workplaces directly.

The first day of the first lunar month is the Spring Festival, and spending the turn of the new year with loved ones is a ritual for Chinese people. This year's Spring Festival fell on January 22.