China's railway passenger traffic in August rose 8.1 percent year-on-year to hit 162 million riders, driven by large numbers of holiday makers and students traveling prior to the school-opening season, the Ministry of Railway (MOR) said Monday.

During the first eight months of 2010, the country's railways transported 1.14 billion passengers, up 8.9 percent year-on-year, even taking into account the adverse effect of the nation's record flooding, the MOR said in a statement posted on its website.

Persistent heavy rains and the resulting floods struck a dozen of south China provinces, including Jiangxi, Fujian, Hunan, Guangdong and Sichuan, this summer.

Railway transportation in these provinces, especially Jiangxi, was hindered by the flood, said railway authorities.

From January to August, railways cargo traffic reached 2.4 billion tons, surging 12.8 percent year-on-year, led by robust coal transportation, said the statement.

China railways transported 1.32 billion tons of coal in the first eight months, up 16.4 percent year-on-year, it said.

(Xinhua News Agency September 7, 2010)