Passengers walk on a platform at a train station in Yantai, East China’s Shandong Province on July 1, 2024. China is expected to see 860 million railway trips during the 62-day-long summer travel rush that kicks off on the same day, according to the country’s railway operator.Photo: cnsphoto

China's railway sector achieved a new record, handling 4.008 billion passenger trips during the first 11 months of 2024, significantly higher than the 3.86 billion handled for the whole year of 2023, according to data from the national railway operator released on Wednesday.

This is the first time passenger trips exceeded the 4 billion mark, indicating strong travel demand, according to a statement sent to the Global Times by the China State Railway Group Co.

In 2023, the railway sector handled 3.86 billion passenger trips, a 130.4-percent increase year-on-year, according to public data, which demonstrated rapid recovery in railway transport post-pandemic.

The operating mileage of China's railway network totaled approximately 160,000 kilometers by the end of November, which include 46,000 kilometers of high-speed railway, further solidifying China's position as the global railway leader.

During the January-November period, passenger turnover — the number of passengers multiplied by the distance they traveled — reached 1.493 trillion passenger-kilometers, representing nearly half of national passenger turnover during this period, the company said.

The railway network now covers most of China's urban areas, covering 99 percent of Chinese cities with a population at 200,000 or more, while high-speed railway serves 97 percent of the cities with more than 500,000 residents.

Cross-border passenger transport via the railway system also showed significant growth during this time, with the China-Laos Railway handling 249,000 cross-border passenger trips and the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong High-speed Railway recording 24.36 million passenger trips with a 37.2 percent year-on-year increase.

Global Times