Travellers queue up to have their tickets checked at Hangzhou East Railway Station in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang province, Sept 30, 2020. (JIANG HAN / XINHUA)

BEIJING - China's railways saw 15.09 million passenger trips on Thursday, a record high for the period since the start of the COVID-19 epidemic, due to the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, which runs from Oct 1 to 8.

 Thursday has been the busiest single day since the beginning of this year, beating its own expectation of 13 million trips

According to China State Railway Group Co Ltd, Thursday has been the busiest single day since the beginning of this year, beating its own expectation of 13 million trips. A total of 11.4 million trips are expected to be made on Friday.

READ MORE: Weather during holiday should be mostly good

The railway operator said that 834 additional trains have been put into operation to handle the spike in trips involving tourism and family visits.

The total number of railway passenger trips during the holiday is expected to be around 108 million. 

The eight-day holiday starting is the first national holiday since the country resumed trans-provincial group tours in July. 

Many people were taking their first long-distance tourist journeys this year. 

People visit the West Lake in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang province, Oct 1, 2020. (JIANG HAN/XINHUA)

Data from Airbnb showed that China's long-distance travel would see robust growth over this holiday compared with the five-day May Day holiday.

As this holiday is particularly long, people have shown a strong interest in traveling, said Dai Bin, director of the China Tourism Academy.

Booking data has shown a larger proportion of travels over 800 km, with a noted increase in journeys longer than 1,600 km, said Airbnb, citing a surging search volume for trips from Shanghai to Hainan's resort city of Sanya.

According to a report issued on Sept 22 by the Meituan Research Institute, about 30 percent of tourist site ticket orders in the first half of September was made by trans-provincial travelers.

ALSO READ: China expects National Day holiday tourism rebound

Tourists are showing a stronger willingness to make long-distance journeys, the report said.

Online travel agency Tuniu said long-distance journeys to the northwest and southwest parts of the country became "hot sellers"

Online travel agency Tuniu said long-distance journeys to the northwest and southwest parts of the country became "hot sellers."

The popularity of travel to northwest China has soared in particular, according to a survey conducted by online travel agency Trip.com Group. It showed car rentals had also increased notably, with over half of all orders during the holiday coming from new users.

Due to COVID-19 concerns, many tourists have turned to recreational vehicles (RVs) for more private and secure tours.

Increased numbers of people took to renting RVs during the epidemic, and orders have increased by 10 percent, according to the China Tourism Academy.

Data from China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism showed that 75.72 percent of the country's travel agencies had resumed operations by mid-September, with 91 percent of star-rated hotels reopened.

As the tourism market gets back on track, authorities have warned of epidemic risks ahead of the national holiday, demanding regular COVID-19 prevention and control measures.

The MCT called on tourists to research COVID-19 prevention measures required by tourist attractions in advance, maintain a safe distance when taking public transportation, and make appointments before visits.