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

From January to November of this year, China’s railways served a cumulative 4.008 billion passengers, 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, among other key passenger transport indicators, remain at the top globally.

According to relevant officials from the Passenger Transport Department of China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as China Railway), the company has thoroughly implemented the decisions and deployments of the Party Central Committee and the State Council. Adhering to a people-centered development philosophy, it accelerates the construction of a modern railway transport service system, focuses on 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 safe, orderly, and pleasant travel of the people as well as the steady operation of the national economy. This injects strong momentum into the prosperous development of a “mobile China.”

The benefits of the developed railway network have been unleashed, and passenger transport capacity has continued to increase. This year, new lines such as the Chizhou-Huangshan High-Speed Rail and the Lanzhou-Zhangye High-Speed Rail’s Zhongchuan Airport to Wuwei East section have been completed and opened for operation. The modern railway network has become increasingly dense, with the national railway operating mileage surpassing 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 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. Fuxing trains are now running across the vast land of China, providing strong support for promoting the flow of people, industrial linkage, and economic interaction along the routes. From January to November, the national railways served 4.008 billion passengers, setting a new record, and completed a passenger turnover of 1,492.701 billion passenger-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 fully utilized, and passenger transport service products have become increasingly diverse. Actively adapting to passenger travel demands, China Railway is promoting supply-side structural reforms in railway transport, coordinating the use of line, station, and equipment resources. It has built a product portfolio of passenger trains led by Fuxing trains, covering different speed levels, complementing high-speed and conventional trains, with a full 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. Leveraging the big data from the railway’s 12306 system, China Railway scientifically analyzes passenger travel patterns, dynamically optimizes and adjusts passenger train operation plans, promptly increases capacity supply on popular routes or directions, and precisely matches transport capacity with passenger demand to facilitate passenger travel. It actively serves 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.

Improvements in station and train service measures have enhanced the passenger travel experience. The 2024 edition of the “Regulations on Railway Passenger Transport of China State Railway Group Co., Ltd.” has been implemented, introducing a series of new measures for the convenience, benefit, and affordability of the people. The railway’s 12306 platform 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 ride passes 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 rail-to-subway transfer without security checks, 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, patients, 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.

Railway development promotes economic and social progress, 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. It has created a “same-city effect,” accelerating the flow of people, logistics, capital, and information, and effectively serving regional development. China Railway persists in operating public-welfare “slow trains” and trains for rural revitalization, enhancing the inclusivity, balance, and accessibility of railway passenger services to facilitate convenient travel and income generation for people along the routes. It actively promotes the integrated development of railways and tourism, collaborates with scenic spots and hotels, creates new consumption scenarios, and launches high-quality tourism routes, attracting a large influx of tourists and boosting 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, China Railway will closely monitor changes in passenger demand, fully utilize the newly opened lines, stations, and equipment resources at the end of the year, optimize train operation plans, prepare for the 2025 Spring Festival travel rush in advance, and continuously improve the quality of station and train services to ensure the safe, orderly, and pleasant travel of passengers.