China's railway passenger transport volume reached 1.033 billion person-times in the first nine months of this year, up 7.3 percent from the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Railways on Saturday.

The ministry said in a report that freight transport volume through railways went up 9.5 percent to 2.318 billion tons during the period, with a daily loading of 138,516 cars, up 8.1 percent year on year.

On April 18 this year, China launched it sixth speed boost for the railways, increasing passenger and freight transport capacity considerably, the report said.

It said that the ministry made efforts to ensure the transport of materials that are critical to national economy and people's livelihood, with the transport volume of coal, chemical fertilizers, pesticides and other key materials all growing by more than 10 percent.

The ministry has also paid attention to raising the efficiency of loading and unloading of goods in a bid to make rail transport more efficient. On September 7, a total of 143,014 cars were loaded nationally, a new record in history. During the nine months, the average turnover time of railway freight cars was 4.76 days, which is 0.07 days shorter than formerly predicted.

(Xinhua News Agency October 7, 2007)