Shared cars at rail station eases festival travel rush in Guangzhou

Guangzhou South Station, one of the busiest railway stations in China, is now cooperating with car-sharing companies to help people get home more quickly and conveniently during the current Spring Festival travel rush.

The city of Guangzhou is expected to process some 5.4 million train passengers during this year's Spring Festival, accounting for around 14-percent of the total rail volumes in China.

To get the people moving through the Guangzhou South Station more quickly, rail authorities have decided to team up with car rental firms, which are now using advanced technology to process the rentals quickly and efficiently.

This includes digital scanning of renter's ID cards and faces, allowing them to rent a vehicle within a matter of seconds.

A young customer, Wang said, "For young people like me, I just graduated from college, maybe we can't afford to own a car, but we have our drivers licenses, so this kind of service is a good option for me. I don't have to worry about buying a new car. I've just rented a car, and I'm now waiting to take my friend home from the railway station."

Chen Guisheng, a senior official with China Railway Guangzhou Group, said, "This floor is a special space for shared cars. There are 51 parking spaces for them. Passengers can pick up a car immediately after they arrive at the station. It only takes them 2 minutes to get here after they get off the train. Passengers can even book a car while on the train before they arrive and can return cars to more than 700 special parking lots throughout the city."

Chen added, "With car sharing, passengers can go home no matter how late they arrive or how far they live. In the past, passengers who lived far away or arrived too late had difficulties getting home by taking public transportation. This was a growing problem, especially since more and more rail travel is taking place at night."

More than 90 percent of the shared cars are new energy vehicles.

Guangzhou South has three parking lots, with over 1,100 parking spaces, and more than 100 charging facilities.

Since the program launch last Thursday, the station is averaging 500 car rentals a day.

National car sharing guidelines were launched in China last August to standardize the development of the industry.

Car shares, as opposed to normal rentals, lets people use online technology to locate shared cars in a given area, rather than going to one of the rental company's outlets.