China railway travel hits 8-year low in summer months on virus flare-ups

BEIJING: Railway travel in China hit an eight-year trough and a pandemic low in the usually busy summer season, according to official data, as fresh virus flare-ups curbed mobility and hit tourist confidence.
Some 440 million passenger trips were taken on China’s railway network between July 1 and Aug. 31, its lowest since 2014, data from China Railway showed.
It was down 4.8% from the 462 million trips seen during the same period in 2021 and 3.5% lower than the 456 million trips seen in 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The summer is one of China’s busiest transport season, as families and college students travel to scenic spots and return home from schools.