China started its Spring Festival peak travel season on Sunday, with a total of 3.16 billion passenger trips expected during the 40 days. The Spring Festival, or Chinese Lunar New Year, falls on Jan 23 this year and is the most important traditional Chinese festival for family reunions.

The world's highest railway, the Qinghai-Tibet railway, is expecting 19,000 passengers during the peak travel season, up 4.4 percent from 2011.

The high-elevation railway that connects Xining, capital of Qinghai Province, to Tibet's capital of Lhasa, also transported 40 million tonnes of cargo in 2011, up 8 percent year-on-year, according to the statistics released by the Xining-based Qinghai-Tibet Railway Company.

The annual 40-day travel rush lasts from Sunday to Feb 16 this year, with millions of travelers boarding public transport to journey across the country for Spring Festival celebrations.

Passengers to get on the train from Lhasa to Xining on the first day of Spring Festival travel season on January 8, 2012.[Photo/Xinhua] 

Passengers on the train from Lhasa to Xining on the first day of Spring Festival travel season on January 8, 2012.[Photo/Xinhua] 

Passengers of the train from Lhasa to Xining on the first day of Spring Festival travel season on January 8, 2012.[Photo/Xinhua] 

Railway staff is helping an elderly passenger to get on the train on the first day of Spring Festival travel season on January 8, 2012.[Photo/Xinhua]