After months spent stuck in Wuhan, tens of thousands of people left the Hubei capital on Wednesday on the first day after the city’s lockdown was lifted.

Around 52,000 people departed from Wuhan via train, air, or bus on Wednesday, according to local authorities, heading off to cities across China.

Back on January 23, as it became clear that the city was the center of a deadly virus epidemic, Wuhan shut down all outbound connections, trapping residents in the city along with out-of-towners on the eve of the Chinese New Year.

Meanwhile, demand for public transport soared on Wednesday within the city with 620,000 passengers taking local buses, ferries, taxes, and metros.

Thousands more also left the city by car, lining up at toll gates hours ahead of time.

The first man in line at one toll station told reporters that he had been waiting for more than two months to drive the 80 kilometers back to his family.