China improves rail, air travel services in summer travel rush

BEIJING, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- China has been beefing up rail and air travel services in the summer travel rush to ensure safe trips for passengers.

About 309 million railway passenger trips were made between July 1 to August 11, with average daily trips reaching around 7.365 million, according to the China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. (China Railway).

Some 7.2 million railway passenger trips are expected to be made on Friday, China Railway added.

To meet growing travel demand, more trains have been put into services between tourist cities during the travel rush, while some new airline routes have also been added.

This year's summer travel rush will last for 62 days from July 1 to August 31. The travel rush is usually a busy season for China's railway system as college students return home and transport demand from family visits and travel soars.