Patrol group keeps trains running at speed

The railway crosses many bridges due to the topography. Engineers usually install metal fencing across the piers of a bridge to keep people and animals out.

But in the Wuyi Mountains, they encircle each individual pier with fencing instead. This prevents animals from climbing onto the tracks but leaves enough room for them to pass between the piers.

Li Min and Xu Hengtao encountered their first wild animal at work two years ago. One morning at dawn, they came across a red slender loris sitting still on the tracks.

"Its red eyes twinkled in the dark. I did not know it was red slender loris, I thought it might be an owl," Li recalled, adding that he searched online to identify the animal later.

Xu picked the primate up in his hands and placed it safely under a tree.

"It was not large, more like a small dog. Once I put it under the tree, it jumped back into the forest," Li said.

"Our awareness of environmental protection has increased thanks to information given to us by the authorities and our company. In addition to prioritizing safety, we now also take environmental protection into consideration," he added.

The railway sector is paying increasing attention to environmental protection, from design to construction.

The team of four is one squad in a larger division established last year by the China Railway Nanchang Group, the regional railway operator.

With a total of 63 patrolmen, the division is usually split into smaller units of three to five members, responsible for ensuring rail safety and protecting the environment.

The Spring Festival travel rush, which is known in Chinese as chunyun, began on Jan 17 and will end on Feb 25. A total of 1.18 billion passenger trips are expected to be made during the 40-day period.

With extra services arranged to cater to the rush, more patrols are also carried out to ensure the safety of passengers and wildlife alike, Xu said.