BEIJING - Passenger trips on trains are expected to reach 26 million in China during the Dragon Boat Festival travel rush this week, the latest data showed.

The China State Railway Group Co. Ltd. said the country will see an estimated 6.7 million passenger trips on Wednesday, the first day of the travel rush.

The holiday travel rush will last until Saturday and the company expects the number of daily trips to hit a high of 7 million on Thursday.

Railway departments will put more trains into operation to handle a spike in trips for tourism and family visits and enhance anti-epidemic measures to ensure passenger safety, said the company.

China has lately seen an increasing demand for rail travel as businesses resumed work and schools reopened.

A total of 157 million railway passenger trips were made in May, up 37.6 percent from the previous month, according to the company.