China's railway passenger traffic hits record high in first 2 months

BEIJING -- China's railway network reported a surge in passenger traffic in the first two months of 2025, fueled by the Spring Festival travel season.

A total of 738 million trips were recorded in January and February, marking a 6.4 percent increase compared to the same period last year and hitting a new high, the National Railway Administration said Friday.

High-speed rail played a key role with 544 million trips taking place in this period, accounting for 73.8 percent of the total.

As an occasion for family reunions, the Spring Festival, which fell on Jan. 29 this year, leads to a 40-day travel rush often referred to as the world's largest annual human migration.

The administration also said that the country's fixed-asset investment in the railway sector in the first two months of 2025 totaled 68.5 billion yuan ($9.55 billion), up 5.1 percent year on year.