China Daily Global Edition (USA)
Safe journey home
While people travel to visit their families and friends for the Spring Festival holiday, which begins on Sunday, China Daily reporters Peng Yining and Xu Jingxi talk with staff at the railway system in Beijing and Guangzhou who are guiding people on their
Workers at the railway system guide people on their way home.
Railway station worker enjoys helping others
During the peak of the Spring Festival travel rush, more than 220,000 people pass through Beijing West Railway Station every day. Wang Linna, a 32-year-old attendant from Beijing, said her waiting room is always packed.
“Even on New Year’s Eve, the room is full of passengers waiting to go home,” she said. “On their faces, I could see the happiness and the eagerness of going home.”
Wang has rarely celebrated the holiday with her family since she started working at the station in 2002, but she enjoys helping others on their way.
“Even though I couldn’t go home, I could feel the festival atmosphere in the waiting room,” she said. “I am very lucky that my family is very supportive. They know that I am working and I need to spend the festival in the waiting room.”
Two weeks ahead of the festival, a 90-year-old passenger came to Wang’s waiting room, accompanied by her children, all in their 60s.
“The 90-year-old mother was in very poor health. She barely could sit up, but insisted on going home,” Wang said. “We sent her to the sleeping berth with a wheelchair and had our staff on the train take special care of her.”
For seniors and disabled passengers, the station has special service and equipment, including wheelchairs and stretchers. “They don’t have to wait in line. The staff will take them directly to their coach before other passengers start to board,” Wang said.
In order to deal with the season’s increased travel demands, the station has halved the staff’s lunch break to 15 minutes. Wang said she and her colleagues always take turns to eat, so there’s always staff in the waiting room to help.