The 2026 Spring Festival travel rush is about to press the start button, and the "World's Largest Population Migration" brochure will open a new page. Safe and smooth travel is what the people hope for and desire. At the beginning of dawn, Beijing West Railway Station welcomes a day of high-speed operation. At 8:49 am on February 1st, the D42 high-speed train from Xi'an to Beijing slowly entered Beijing West Station. Passenger duty officer Zhu Chunsheng, dressed in a neat uniform, waited early at the waiting platform. Don't worry, take it slow, take care of the children and lead them well. Everyone, pay attention to your safety and get off the train in an orderly manner. There is still one day before the 2026 Spring Festival travel rush begins, and there are already many passengers in the carriage. Returning home and traveling, people carry suitcases, big and small bags, with a calm and composed expression on their faces, but their eyes cannot hide anticipation. The weather was extremely cold, but Zhu Chunsheng was busy: helping the elderly carry their luggage, responding to passengers' inquiries, reminding children not to run and play on the platform... The busy figure never stopped, and the smile on his face remained unchanged. Taking the train is becoming more and more convenient, and everyone's mood for travel should still be quite beautiful. My job is to remind everyone to get on and off safely, do something within my ability, and keep everyone in a good mood. ”Zhu Chunsheng said. Zhu Chunsheng has been working in the railway industry for 41 years. Time flies, and there are two changes that left the deepest impression on him. One is human. The clothes we wear have changed from coarse fabrics and old clothes to various fashionable styles nowadays, and the bags we carry in our hands have also changed from snake skin bags and fertilizer bags to suitcases, "said Zhu Chunsheng. From the changes in people's clothing and appearance, we can see the development of the economy and society. One is standing. Beijing West Railway Station is the 'leader' of the Beijing Kowloon Railway, which was launched in 1996. In 2006, the first train to Tibet was connected to the snowy plateau from here. In 2017, the 'Jingtong Express' was put into operation to serve the construction of Beijing's urban sub center. In 2020, the entire Beijing Xiongnu intercity railway line was opened... "Zhu Chunsheng is like a treasure trove. Data is the best explanation. Beijing West Railway Station has been connected to 11 railway lines since its opening, with only two regular speed lines, Beijing Guangzhou and Beijing Kowloon. The number of trains in operation has increased from 27 pairs in the early stages to 193 pairs by 2025, and the passenger volume has increased from 8.26 million in 1996 to 65.39 million in 2025... Extending the time scale from Beijing to the whole country - China's total railway mileage has been extended from 22000 kilometers in 1949 to 165000 kilometers now, and the high-speed railway mileage has exceeded 50000 kilometers; The slow and leisurely development of green trains has evolved into comfortable and convenient red and blue trains, and even into faster "Fuxing" high-speed trains... The changes are not only in hardware facilities. In 2004, Xie Lina entered Beijing West Railway Station and became a ticket seller. At that time, people came to the ticket window to buy tickets. During the Spring Festival travel rush, people would queue up all night, carrying dry food and bedding rolls to our window to queue up. "Xie Lina recalled that in order to reduce the waiting time, Beijing West Railway Station would activate a temporary ticket office during the Spring Festival travel rush, with a maximum of 170 temporary windows during peak hours. In 2011, the 12306 website began piloting online ticket sales. In the 2015 Spring Festival travel rush, online ticket booking accounted for as much as 78%, and in the 2026 Spring Festival travel rush, this proportion exceeded 90%. Replace 'offline running' with 'fingertip operation'. Nowadays, the number of ticket halls at Beijing West Railway Station has been reduced from 5 to 2, with only 20 ticket windows remaining. The crowd that used to flock in line was mainly young adults, but now they have become elderly people with different accents, making it difficult for them to purchase tickets online. In the past, ticket sellers used to issue tickets purely for the sake of speed. However, reporters have noticed that now they patiently answer questions from the elderly and provide personalized and differentiated services to facilitate their travel. In the scenery of the Spring Festival travel rush, the power of technology is rolling forward - on the large screen of the railway department dispatch command center, numbers such as passenger flow dynamics, train density, and remaining ticket information are constantly jumping, and big data accurate prediction makes transportation capacity allocation more efficient; At Guangzhou South Station, AI customer service provides real-time answers to refund related rules in Cantonese, making it more convenient for people to return home and travel; At Hangzhou East Railway Station, volunteers helped the elderly click on the screen to activate the "Elderly Mode", and the voice broadcast sounded clearly... Smart and efficient technology empowerment made the Spring Festival travel rush faster; Thoughtful and pragmatic measures have made the Spring Festival travel rush even warmer. Behind the "fast" and "warm" lies the rapid development of the economy and society, and the relentless wheel of high-quality development. The railway tracks stretch across thousands of mountains and rivers. This is a heartwarming Spring Festival travel rush scene, a steaming hot 'flowing epic'. (New Society)