China Railway Corporation (CRC), operator of China's rail network, announced train tickets for the 40-day travel period known as chunyun  will go on sale Thursday.

Chunyun , known as the world's largest human migration, is the hectic travel period surrounding Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival, which will begin on January 24 and last until March 3 this year.

The Spring Festival is China's most important holiday for reunions, with hundreds of millions of people traveling to their hometown, causing huge pressure on the transportation system.

The upcoming Spring Festival falls on February 8.

During chunyun  in 2015, Chinese railways, roads, airlines and waterways carried a total of 2.81 billion passengers, up 3.5 percent from the previous year. About 295 million trips were made by rail, according to data from the Ministry of Transport.

From Thursday, passengers can book tickets for departures on January 24 through the Internet, mobile app or by phone.

In 2016, the CRC plans to run 3,488 pairs of trains, an increase of 14.5 percent from 2015.

(Xinhua News Agency November 24, 2015)