Passengers wait to board the train at Suzhu Railway in Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu province, on Sept 5. [Photo by Wang Jiankang/Asianewsphoto]

BEIJING -?China's railways are expected to carry 31.2 million passengers during the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival travel rush, up 12.4 percent from last year, said the China Railway Corporation (CRC) on Friday.

The four-day travel rush will start on Friday, when the number of people traveling by rail is forecast to hit 7.6 million, up 11.8 percent from a year earlier.

The CRC has arranged more temporary trains to cope with the travel rush.

The Mid-Autumn Festival, which will fall on Monday under China's lunar calendar, is a traditional occasion for family reunions. It's the second most important such holiday after the Spring Festival.

Silk Road railway in Northwest China nears completion	Summer vacation travel rush