China's railway passenger traffic exceeds 4 bln in first 11 months

An aerial drone photo taken on Nov. 23, 2024 shows a bullet train crossing the Qingpu grand bridge along a new high-speed rail line connecting Shanghai Municipality with the provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang in east China. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

BEIJING, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- China's railway transported over 4 billion passengers during the first 11 months of 2024, hitting a record high, China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. (China Railway) said Wednesday.

As the modern railway network continues to expand, the country's total railway operating mileage has so far exceeded 160,000 km, with high-speed railway surpassing 46,000 km, according to China Railway.

Over 3,300 railway passenger stations have been built and put into use across the country, including more than 1,300 high-speed railway stations.

The railway network now covers 99 percent of the Chinese cities each with a population of over 200,000, and the high-speed railway network covers 97 percent of cities each with a population of over 500,000.