BEIJING, April 29 -- China's railway network is expected to handle approximately 144 million passenger trips during the eight-day May Day holiday travel rush, which kicked off on Tuesday, the national railway operator said.

The figure represents a year-on-year increase of 4.9 percent, according to China State Railway Group Co., Ltd.

Thursday is expected to see the peak passenger flow for the period, according to the group.

According to China's 12306 railway booking platform, popular destinations for the holiday include Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Wuhan, Shenzhen, Xi'an, Nanjing and Zhengzhou.

Platform data also shows that Beijing-Shanghai, Xi'an-Chengdu, Beijing-Hohhot, Nanning-Guangzhou, Beijing-Shenyang, and Shenzhen-Hong Kong routes are among the most popular for the eight-day period.

To cater to this surge in traffic, China's rail authorities have scheduled additional train services, operating an average of more than 12,000 passenger trains each day, according to the railway operator.

It noted that actions such as the scheduling of additional high-speed sleeper trains have been taken to increase transport capacities in popular regions and at peak times.