Passengers enter the Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station on June 25, the first day of the three-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday. (Photo: Xinhua)

The flow of passengers during this year's Spring Festival travel rush in Shanghai is expected to be more than in 2020, an official of the city's Spring Festival Rush Office said on Jan 15.

The overall volume, however, will still be less than in 2019.

It is estimated that the total number of passengers arriving and leaving the city during the travel rush, which will begin from Jan 28 and last till Mar 8, will hit 35.7-million times, a year-on-year increase of 52 percent and a decrease of 20 percent compared with 2019.

The average daily passenger flow of the city's traffic will reach 13.78 million times while the average daily traffic volume of the external crossing of the expressway and elevated roads in the city will hit 450,000 and 1,780,000 respectively.

Officials have urged residents not to leave the city and country or travel to high-risk areas unless absolutely unnecessary.

Front-line service staff of transportation hubs in the city have been instructed to wear masks. Authorities have also encouraged the public to wear masks, practice social distancing and avoid gatherings at metro stations and other public venues.

Passengers taking buses, subways, taxis, ferries, and other forms of transportation are encouraged to scan each location's internal QR code for information registration.