China’s railway passenger volume, passenger turnover, and other key passenger transport indicators rank first in the world

Reporter learned from China Railway Group (hereinafter referred to as CR Group) that from January to November this year, China’s railways served a cumulative 4.008 billion passenger trips, marking the first time the annual passenger volume surpassed the 4 billion threshold and setting a new record. China’s railway passenger volume and passenger turnover, key indicators of passenger transport, rank first in the world.
According to relevant officials from the Passenger Transport Department of CR Group, the group thoroughly implements the decisions and deployments of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, adheres to the people-centered development philosophy, accelerates the construction of a modern railway transport service system, focuses on the people’s aspirations for a better travel life, fully leverages the developed and improved high-speed rail network and modern railway network, continuously enhances the capacity and quality of railway passenger services, and effectively serves the people’s safe, orderly, and comfortable travel as well as the steady operation of the national economy, injecting strong momentum into the prosperity and development of a “mobile China.”
The benefits of the developed railway network are being unleashed, and passenger transport capacity continues to improve. This year, new lines such as the Chizhou-Huangshan High-Speed Rail and the Zhongchuan Airport-Wuwei East Section of the Lanzhou-Zhangye High-Speed Rail have been completed and opened for operation. The modern railway network is becoming denser, with the national railway operating mileage exceeding 160,000 kilometers, including over 46,000 kilometers of high-speed rail. More than 3,300 railway passenger stations have been built and put into use, with over 1,300 of them being high-speed rail stations. The railway network now covers 99% of cities with a population of over 200,000 and the high-speed rail network covers 97% of cities with a population of over 500,000. Cities like Wuwei and Zhaoyuan have entered the high-speed rail era. The significant leap in the scale and quality of the railway network, especially the high-speed rail network, has expanded railway passenger transport capacity, improved network connectivity and coverage, and enabled Fuxing trains to run across the vast land of the country, providing strong support for promoting the flow of people, industrial linkage, and economic interaction along the routes. From January to November, China’s railways served 4.008 billion passenger trips, setting a new record, and completed a passenger turnover of 1,492.701 billion person-kilometers, accounting for nearly half of the total passenger turnover in society. The backbone role of railway passenger transport has become more prominent.
The line and equipment resources are being fully utilized, and passenger transport service products are increasingly diverse. Efforts are made to actively adapt to passenger travel demands, promote supply-side structural reforms in railway transport, coordinate the use of line, station, and equipment resources, and build a product portfolio of passenger trains led by Fuxing trains, covering different speed levels, complementing high-speed and conventional trains, with a complete range of categories, a reasonable structure, and sufficient supply. Fuxing high-speed trains operate at a maximum speed of 350 km/h, providing passengers with diverse travel options. By fully leveraging the big data of the railway’s 12306 system, scientifically analyzing passenger travel patterns, dynamically optimizing and adjusting passenger train operation plans, and timely increasing transport capacity in popular directions or on routes, the transport capacity and passenger demand are precisely matched to facilitate passenger travel. Efforts are also made to actively serve the tourism economy and the silver-haired economy by creating a series of distinctive tourist train brands such as “Silk Road Dream Express” and “Panda Special Train,” which have been well-received by the market.
Station and train service measures have been improved, providing passengers with a better travel experience. The 2024 edition of the “Regulations on Railway Passenger Transport of China Railway Group” has been implemented, introducing a series of new measures for the convenience, benefit, and affordability of the people. The railway’s 12306 system has innovatively launched features such as through-train connections and online seat selection, promoted fully digital electronic invoices for passenger services, and expanded the coverage of multi-ride tickets and periodic tickets to 60 lines, tourism package tickets to 11 lines, and railway QR codes to all high-speed trains. Convenient transfers are available at 120 stations nationwide, 31 stations offer subway rides without security checks for arriving railway passengers, 84 stations provide internet meal ordering services, and “quiet carriages” are available on 92 high-speed trains. The rules for transporting key passengers such as the elderly, children, the sick, the disabled, and pregnant women have been optimized, making their travel more pleasant and convenient. Civilized travel is actively promoted, creating a warm and comfortable travel environment.
Economic and social development is being promoted, effectively supporting a “mobile China.” The continuous improvement in railway passenger transport capacity and quality has significantly enhanced people’s travel conditions and injected vitality into economic and social development. The extensive high-speed rail network has shortened spatiotemporal distances, effectively promoting the integrated development of regions such as the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area, the Yangtze River Delta, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, creating a “same-city effect,” accelerating the flow of people, logistics, capital, and information, and effectively serving regional development. Efforts are made to continue operating public-interest “slow trains” and rural revitalization trains, enhancing the inclusivity, balance, and accessibility of railway passenger services, facilitating convenient travel and income generation for people in areas along the routes. The integration of railways and tourism is actively promoted by collaborating with scenic spots and hotels, creating new consumption scenarios, and launching high-quality tourist routes, which have attracted a large influx of tourists and boosted the tourism economy. Since the beginning of this year, the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong High-Speed Rail has served 24.345 million cross-border passengers, a year-on-year increase of 37.2%, and the China-Laos Railway has served 249,000 cross-border passengers, effectively facilitating cross-border personnel exchanges, cultural exchanges, and business cooperation.
The official stated that in the next step, CR Group will closely monitor changes in passenger demand, fully utilize the newly opened lines, stations, and newly commissioned equipment resources at the end of the year, optimize train operation plans, make early preparations for the 2025 Spring Festival travel rush, continuously improve the quality of station and train services, and ensure the safe, orderly, and comfortable travel of passengers.