Chunyun, the annual Spring Festival travel rush, kicked off today. The 40-day travel period concludes on February 15 and will see 2.1 billion people on the move, nearly double the number who traveled last year.

China Railway said 6.3 million people departed by train on the first day of Chunyun, doubled compared with the same day last year. 

Train tickets departing from Beijing on New Year’s Eve and days before are mostly sold out. China Railway said 6,077 pairs of trains will run on a peak day.

For three years, China has cautioned against travel during holidays to limit crowed and thus coronavirus transmission.