The CRC said 9.58 million trips are expected Monday.

About 7.45 million train trips were made Sunday, the second day of the holiday, surging 11.3 percent year on year, the CRC said.

Traffic in major cities rose significantly during the holiday, said the operator of the world's largest high-speed rail network.

Some 786,000 passengers left Beijing by train Sunday, a year-on-year rise of 18.9 percent. More than 1.61 million left Shanghai, jumping 18.1 percent, and 1.1 million left Guangzhou, up 15.8 percent.

During the New Year holiday, hundreds of millions of people go back to their hometowns to meet relatives and old friends, putting huge stress on the transport system.

Chinese people have never been more affluent and keen to travel. Every year, stress on the transport system is huge, despite improvements in infrastructure over the last few years.