BEIJING — China’s railways has been tested on Feb 2, when passenger flows peak at the end of the Spring Festival holiday.

Some 11.5 million trips, a year-on-year increase of 11.3 percent, will be made on the country’s railways with travelers returning to work as the weeklong Lunar New Year celebration draws to a close, according to China Railway.

The company added 819 passenger trains on Feb 2 to cope with increased demand.

About 2.98 billion trips are expected to be made during the Spring Festival travel rush between Jan 13 and Feb 21, slightly up from a year ago, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.

Spring Festival is the most important occasion for family reunions and fell on Jan 28 this year. Chinese people enjoyed a weeklong holiday starting Jan 27.

Chunyun, literally meaning “spring transport,” was first coined as a phrase by the media in 1954 to describe heavy traffic around Spring Festival, according to China Railway archives.