Top railway operator posts positive numbers

China's fixed-asset in railway infrastructure reached 325.9 billion ($47.5 billion) in the first half of this year, exceeding its investment goal, according to the country's top railway operator on Monday.

A total of 1,310 kilometers of new railway tracks went into operation in the first six months, with 733 being high-speed lines, which optimized the country's railway network and boosted the development of the regional economy, said China State Railway Group.

The company took in a total of nearly 403.9 billion yuan in transport revenue during the January-June period, a year-on-year decrease of 124.2 billion yuan due to the COVID-19 epidemic, it said, adding that its net loss were 95.5 billion yuan.

The country's rail freight transport volume climbed 3.6 percent year-on-year in the first half of the year to reach 1.69 billion tons. The number of China-Europe freight trains also rose significantly during the period, with a total of 5,122 trains being put into operation, up 36 percent year-on-year, it said.

Though the country's railway handled 806 million passenger trips in the first half of the year, down 53.5 percent from the same period last year, the number of railway passenger trips has been rebounding month by month, it said.

And the average daily passenger volume in June reached 5.45 million, an increase of 4.22 million from the figure in February when passenger trips hit rock bottom, it added.