BEIJING, Feb. 16 -- A total of 1.595 billion passenger trips were made in China via commercial transport during the 40-day Spring Festival travel rush that ended Wednesday, official data showed Thursday.

The figure marked a 50.5-percent increase over the same period in 2022 and accounted for 53.5 percent of the volume in the corresponding period of 2019, according to the Ministry of Transport. The total flow of people in the country came in at 4.733 billion in the period.

As travel demand saw a significant surge, the flow of passenger cars on expressways touched an all-time high.

According to the ministry, the holiday travel was carried out in a safe and organized manner, with strict adherence to epidemic prevention measures.

The travel season, also known as "chunyun," kicked off on Jan. 7 and saw many Chinese people traveling to reunite with their families for the Chinese Lunar New Year, which fell on Jan. 22 this year.

Out of all modes of commercial transportation, road trips stood at 1.169 billion, marking the fastest year-on-year growth of 55.8 percent. The railway industry reported the best recovery as the number of trips touched 348 million, recovering to 85.5 percent of the 2019 level.

Waterway and aviation trips both surged over 30 percent from a year ago to 22.452 and 55.214 million, respectively.