China's passenger transportation system is facing a peak in return traffic flow on Monday, the last day of the Spring Festival holiday, with measures taken to ensure the passengers' smooth travel.

The Spring Festival, marking the start of the Chinese New Year, fell on Feb. 17 this year. The official holiday lasts nine days from Feb. 15 to 23, with the travel rush period lasting through March 13 as residents head home for family reunions and leisure and return for work.

The country's railway system is expected to handle 18.50 million passenger trips, with 2,297 additional passenger trains scheduled for Sunday. This is the peak of railway travel during the holiday period.

In response, railway stations in Shanghai, south China's Guangzhou, central China's Wuhan, and other cities have provided boosted passenger services and increased security personnel and volunteers, as well as strengthened guidance for nighttime trains. The stations also increased the frequency of nighttime buses and taxis to facilitate quick transfers for passengers.

Affected by cold air, many parts of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province were hit by heavy rain, snow, and strong winds. The Harbin Railway Bureau added 10 high-speed trains on the Harbin-Mudanjiang and Harbin-Suifenhe routes on Monday, and put into use a new type of de-icing and snow removal device to improve the efficiency of high-speed train maintenance.

"By using constant temperature and pressure water outlets, combined with a fan-shaped nozzle, the ice-melting and snow-removal process for a single high-speed train can now be completed in just three hours, compared to six in the past. This improves efficiency while ensuring safe travel," said Zhang Shuo, a maintenance crew member at the Harbin passenger transport section under China Railway Harbin Group.

On the nation's highways, traffic volume on expressways decreased on Monday, yet remained at a high level. It is estimated that over 66 million vehicle trips will be registered nationwide. Due to snowfall and icy roads, several sections of major highways in Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Shaanxi provinces have implemented proactive closure and control measures.

In civil aviation, airports in multiple cities, including Urumqi, Harbin and Changchun, are facing extra challenges from strong winds, snow and convective weather.

Meanwhile, China's waterways are expected to handle 1.6 million passenger trips on Monday. To cope with the high passenger volume and limited berth space, operating companies have made adjustments to some of their speedboat services. Maritime authorities are ensuring passenger safety through on-site patrol boat deployments and dynamic passenger flow analysis.