China's railways carried 199.7 million passenger trips in May, 20 percent more than they did in April, marking the biggest monthly rise this year, figures from the China Railway Corporation (CRC) showed on Thursday.

All 18 railway subsidiaries across the country reported growth in passenger traffic, with the Nanning subsidiary in southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region ranking the highest with a rise of 46.8 percent.

According to a CRC official, short holidays like the three-day Labor Day holiday and weekends helped the rise.

During the Labor Day holiday, which lasted from May 1st to May 3rd, the railways carried around 9.25 million passengers. Travelers made 10 million trips on May 1 alone, the highest daily volume ever.

Cargo transportation by rail, however, was not as optimistic. Over 318 million tonnes of cargo were carried by rail in May and more than 158,000 carriages were loaded daily. Although this was up 3,000 from that of April, it barely halted the downturn in the past few months.