National Railway Administration: From January to August, railways nationwide carried a cumulative total of 3.321 billion passengers, a year-on-year increase of 3.9%.

According to the National Railway Administration on September 18, from January to August 2026, railway passenger and freight volumes nationwide continued to grow, with safe and orderly transportation, providing strong transport support for passengers' safe travel and the stable operation of the economy. In terms of passenger transport, from January to August, railways nationwide carried a cumulative total of 3.321 billion passengers, a year-on-year increase of 3.9%; passenger turnover reached 1,181.184 billion passenger-kilometers, a year-on-year increase of 1.2%. During the summer travel period from July 1 to August 31, railways nationwide carried a cumulative total of 954 million passengers, a year-on-year increase of 1.2%. Figure 1: National railway passenger volume from January to August, 20232026 Figure 2: National railway passenger turnover from January to August, 20232026 In terms of freight transport, from January to August, railways nationwide carried a cumulative total of 3.492 billion tons of goods, a year-on-year increase of 0.7%; freight turnover reached 2,524.961 billion ton-kilometers, a year-on-year increase of 5.8%. By category, from January to August, railways nationwide carried a cumulative total of 1.830 billion tons of coal, 739 million tons of containers, and 35.79 million tons of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, up 1.0%, 7.5%, and 12.5% year-on-year respectively, with freight transport flowing smoothly and in an orderly manner. In terms of fixed asset investment, from January to August, national railway fixed asset investment reached 511.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1.5%, with railway construction advancing in a scientific and orderly manner. This article is excerpted from the "National Railway Administration" WeChat official account. GMTEight editor: Feng Qiuyi.