China railways carry 600 mn passengers

Beijing, May 6 (IANS) China's railways have carried over 600 million passengers in the first four months of 2012, a year-on-year rise of 2.8 percent, the authorities said Sunday.

The increase in passenger numbers is due to Qingming Festival and Labour Day holidays, the railways ministry said.

The numbers rose by 8.6 percent year-on-year in April, 7.4 percentage points higher than the growth registered in the first quarter, Xinhua reported.

The railways carried 1.33 billion tonnes of cargo in the first four months, up 3.8 percent from the previous year, the ministry added.