A ceremony marking the 100-millionth passenger takes place at Hangzhou West Railway Station. [Photo by Chen Wei/tidenews.com.cn]

Railway stations in Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang province, reached a milestone on Dec 22 – surpassing 100 million passenger departures in a year for the first time, representing 9.1-percent increase on 2023.

Hangzhou's 100-millionth passenger, a man surnamed Xu from Wenzhou, departed Hangzhou West Station aboard the Hangzhou-Wenzhou High-Speed Railway.

"It's both surprising and lucky to be the milestone passenger," said the 33-year-old finance professional.

The achievement by the Hangzhou stations ranks them second among Yangtze River Delta railway stations, following Shanghai itself.

Hangzhou now oversees 10 stations – including Hangzhou West, Fuyang, Tonglu and Qiandao Lake – with total operational railway track stretching 553.3 kilometers. The network runs 677.5 daily train services, enhancing the connectivity of Zhejiang's "1-hour traffic circle".

With new high-speed lines like Hangzhou-Wenzhou and Hangzhou-Taizhou completed in recent years, holiday travel records have repeatedly been smashed.

During this year's Spring Festival travel rush, 10.3 million passengers were served in 40 days, while summer saw 20.6 million handled in 62 days. Single-day departures hit a peak of 445,000 passengers.

All this comes as Hangzhou railway stations have innovated with "railway + tourism" packages. These include multi-trip tickets for routes connecting Hangzhou, Qiandao Lake and Huangshan – boosting cultural and travel exchanges.

Improved amenities, such as upgraded waiting areas and seamless high-speed rail-to-metro transfers, are said to further enhance the overall passenger experience.

The record-breaking achievement reflects Zhejiang's booming economy and the growing popularity of high-speed rail as the preferred mode of travel.

Passengers throng to Hangzhou West Railway Station on Dec 22. [Photo by Chen Wei/tidenews.com.cn]