BEIJING -- China's railway ticketing platform 12306 had sold a total of 140 million train tickets for the ongoing Spring Festival travel rush as of 8 am Saturday, according to the country's railway operator.

The national railway network handled 12.845 million passenger trips on Friday, marking the fifth consecutive day that daily passenger trips topped 10 million, China State Railway Group Co Ltd said on Saturday.

For Saturday, railways nationwide are forecast to transport 13.8 million passenger trips, with 1,249 extra passenger trains scheduled to meet travel demand, according to the company.

Railway authorities across the country are closely tracking passenger flows during the peak season and conducting dynamic big data analysis, ramping up transport capacity on popular routes and improving services to ensure smooth journeys for passengers.

The 40-day travel rush is expected to see a record 9.5 billion inter-regional passenger trips across the country. Of the total, an estimated 540 million passenger trips will be handled by the country's railway services.