Shanghai Railway Station (CFP)

BEIJING, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- The number of railway trips made by Chinese passengers hit 21.45 million on Tuesday, the first day of the weeklong National Day holiday.

This marks a record-high number of daily railway passenger trips, the China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. (China Railway) said on Wednesday, forecasting that the number will go down to 18.2 million on Wednesday.

Tourists take selfies at Tiantan (Temple of Heaven) Park in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 1, 2024. (Photo by Chen Xiaogen/Xinhua)

The railway network is expected to handle 175 million passenger trips during the 10-day holiday travel rush from Sept. 29 to Oct. 8. Tourists, family reunions and students are driving the surge in travel.

The total length of operational rail tracks in China surpassed 160,000 km in September 2024, with the inauguration of a section linking two cities in south China's Guangdong Province.

The operating mileage of China's high-speed railway (HSR) has reached 46,000 kilometers, ranking first in the world and surpassing the combined total of all other countries' HSR networks, according to China Railway.

The railway network now serves a vast portion of China's urban areas, covering 99 percent of cities with populations over 200,000, while HSR serves 96 percent of cities with more than 500,000 residents.