Safety concerns

To move the record number of passengers, 840,000 long-distance coaches will be used during the holidays, making 2.6 million trips every day, the ministry said.

The intensive transport has raised public concerns about road safety for long-distance buses, especially sleeper buses.

Last month, a fatal traffic accident occurred in Northwest China's Shaanxi province, killing 36 passengers on an overnight sleeper bus. The accident flagged safety issues on the so-called red-eye buses as they usually travel overnight.

He Jianzhong said such buses, which travel more than 800 kilometers, still have a strong market demand during peak travel times.

He said the ministry will take stricter measures to prevent any threats to travel safety, such as urging the buses to stop running between 2 am and 5 am and requiring drivers to take compulsory shifts at night to prevent fatigued driving.

In addition to safety inspections on long-distance sleeper buses and chartered tourism buses, He said the ministry also inspects the condition of highways and bridges before the holidays.

"The local traffic authorities will make efforts to ban overloaded vehicles from driving on highways, which may endanger roads and bridges," he said.

Cang Wei in Nanjing and Shi Yingying in Shanghai contributed to this story.

tanzongyang@chinadaily.com.cn