China’s railways carried 162m passengers in August, an 8.1 per cent year-on-year growth, thanks to large numbers of students travelling prior to the start of the academic year, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Railways.

During the first eight months of 2010, China’s railways transported 1.14bn passengers, up 8.9 per cent year-on-year, with cargo traffic hitting 2.4bn tons, up 12.8 per cent from a year earlier. Trains transported 1.32bn tons of coal in the first eight months, 16.4 per cent more than a year ago.