Beijing, June 6 -- China's railway system transported over 4.31 billion passengers in 2024, marking an 11.9 percent increase compared to the previous year, according to the National Railway Administration.

Railway cargo transportation volume approached 5.18 billion tonnes last year, reflecting a 2.8-percent growth compared to the previous year.

In terms of investment, China's railway sector saw fixed-asset investment amount to 850.6 billion yuan (around 118.39 billion U.S. dollars) in 2024. During the same period, 3,113 km of new railway lines were inaugurated, about 79 percent of which are high-speed railways.

As the modern railway network continued to expand, China's total operational length of lines reached 162,000 km in 2024, inclu...