A migrant worker checks his railway ticket before entering the concourse of Shanghai Railway Station yesterday. Some of the city's migrant workers are returning home early to avoid the peak period next month.- Shanghai Daily

Dong Zhen/Shanghai Daily news

A ''heading home'' travel surge that sweeps the country at the end of the year as migrant workers leave cities to return to their home provinces has already begun in Shanghai, authorities said yesterday.

The railway authority said some of the city's migrant workers were leaving early to celebrate the Chinese New Year's holiday late next month at home to avoid the peak period when tickets were difficult to get and carriages were extremely crowded.