Life of Guangzhou - Volunteers Smooth Spring Festival Travel Rush

Ma Zhanfang (front, with a loudspeaker), a volunteer who works as a public transportation guide, asks passengers to wait in queues and get on the bus in order at a bus stop outside the Beijing West Railway Station on Thursday, February 4, 2010. [Photo: CRIENGLISH.com]

Every morning since January 30, 53-year-old Ma Zhanfang has gone to the Beijing West Railway Station, where she works as a public transportation guide during the Spring Festival travel rush.

Ma's job is to help keep order outside the railway station. Her responsibilities include asking passengers to queue for buses, answering inquiries and offering help to those in need.

"I like the job very much," Ma said. She is willing to help passengers from the bottom of her heart, she said, adding, "People ask me how to get somewhere or ask for help. It's my honor to serve them."

Ma became a public transport guide three years ago when she retired. She used to work in Xicheng District, where she lives, but applied to help at the railway station during the Spring Festival period.

Like Ma, more than 160 public transport guides from three districts of the capital city work on shifts at the west station during this special period every day from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. A one-week training session was conducted by the management committee of the Beijing West Railway Station areas before they got started.

"We were not familiar with the roads near the west station," said Ma. "Officials from the management committee introduced us to the environment of the area during the trainings, and we went around ourselves to keep informed about the surrounding facilities in our minds."

The management committee also issued volunteers a service handbook including maps and information on public transportation and surrounding facilities, said Wu Sanshang, an official from the committee.

Ma's efforts have won lots of praise from passengers, who think the general order around the railway station has improved.

"With guides keeping order, passengers don't have to crowd at bus stops. Everyone gets on buses in order. It's very convenient," said Zhang Bolin, a student who was going back to his hometown in north China's Hebei Province.

Fang Jiang, a migrant worker from central China's Hubei Province, was grateful to get information from the guides.

"I feel warm," he said. "They treat us like family members and take good care of us when we ask for information."

The guides are only some of the volunteers who serve at the station during the travel rush. As one of the biggest and busiest railway stations in China, Beijing West Railway Station expects a daily volume of 400,000 passengers during the travel peak. Around 500 volunteers have been recruited to serve the passengers, many of whom are migrant workers with heavy luggage.

According to Yao Hongren, an official from the Beijing West Railway Station, a temporary waiting hall was opened this year for passengers for the temporary trains. Over 100 college student volunteers were recruited to guide passengers to the correct waiting places and help keep order inside the station.

Railway station staff members also join the volunteer team after hours. Almost all the staff of the station do extra work during the period. Staff members at the station's information center work 14 hours and have answered an average of 1,800 enquiries every day since its opening in December last year.

"Everything we do is to make sure passengers can travel smoothly during the Spring Festival period," said Jiang Yumin, the human resources director from the property management company of the Beijing West Railway Station.

Volunteers also help at other railway and coach stations during the Spring Festival travel rush that lasts from January 30 to March 10. During this period, 210 million passengers are expected to travel by train.

[More China News]