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The scene in Beijing's main railway stations on Monday turned out to be contrary to people's expectations: no travellers clad in padded winter coats with makeshift luggage climbing through the windows of trains. With two weeks to go until the Chinese Lunar New Year on February 12, station platforms and concourses were instead no more raucous than at other times of year when transport is not in peak demand. Monday marked the start of the 40-day transportation peak period, which will run until March 8. Cui Ximei, with two big bags in hand and her baby on the back, stepped on the train to her home province of Hunan at lunchtime on Monday looking relaxed and content with her husband. "I bought a lot of things for my families," said Cui, who came to Beijing four years ago and found a job as a cleaner. "I haven't been home for two years." During the forthcoming Spring Festival holidays, 60 percent of the 60 million rural people working in cities are expected to return home for the festival, according to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. Men and women whose traditional jobs as farmhands have been made redundant due to the application of modern technology try to find work elsewhere to support their families. They often leave their home province after Spring Festival and millions of them flood major railway stations at the same time, putting heavy pressure on the railway system. Thanks to the effective ticket-selling system and fast service, the transport network has operated smoothly so far. More than 100 trains in each direction have gone into operation for the festive period between major cities such as Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Xi'an, according to the Ministry of Railways. Beijing Railway Station on Monday transported about 160,000 passengers and put on eight extra trains to cope with the travel peaks. China's railway organizations are putting on more than 100 extra trains to cope with the predicted three travel peaks during this year's Spring Festival period. The peak before the festival will be on February 7-9 when the Ministry of Railways is expecting to transport 3.5 million-3.6 million passengers. The first peak after festival will be on February 18-20 when an estimated 4.1 million people travel by train and the second peak will be on February 28 to March 2 when the passengers are predicted to reach 3.6 million.