China's railways carried 1.36 billion passengers in 2007, up 8 percent over the previous year's figure, but the country's booming economy means demand will be even greater this year.

More than 3 billion tonnes of cargo were transported by rail, an increase of 8.6 percent, Railway Minister Liu Zhijun said at a national work conference earlier this month.

In 2008, passengers would make more than 1.4 billion rail journeys and the cargo transported by railway would exceed 3.3 billion tons, he said.

Transport networks in many areas have reported a record volume of travelers this year, especially after the Chunyun, or Spring Festival transportation period, which began on Friday, five days ahead of schedule.

It is estimated Beijing's railways will bear 30.09 million passengers in the coming Chunyun, up 7 percent over last year. Northwestern traffic hub Xi'an has seen a record of 100,000 people a day since Monday, about 20,000 more than in previous years.

Cities in eastern and southern China also had similar problems, and Guangzhou is even asking for help from the Ministry of Railways for more trains. Railway stations across China had to add 311 temporary round-trips to ease the pressure.

The overwrought railway traffic is likely to receive respite when 15,000 kilometers of new railways are built and put into operation in the following three years, with 7,000 kilometers being passenger-only high-speed tracks. The total length of the country's railway will reach 120,000 kilometers by 2020.

Construction of the most important railway construction project this year, the multi-billion-dollar high-speed railway between Beijing and Shanghai, is due to begin on Jan. 18.

From 2003 to 2007, China invested 522 billion yuan (US$71.5 billion) in railway construction.

(Xinhua News Agency January 22, 2008)