国内英语新闻:China's railways carry 1.27 bln passengers in first eight months

BEIJING, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- China's railway system has transported some 1.27 billion passengers during the first eight months of this year, up 11.8 percent from a year earlier, the Ministry of Railways said Sunday.

The figure has accounted for 67.4 percent of the ministry's full-year target, said the ministry in a statement on its website.

The Ministry of Railways has planned to send 1.9 billion passengers in 2011, up 13.1 percent year-on-year.

The country's high-speed trains had been operating with improved order and efficiency, said the ministry, which has been required to run high-speed trains at slower speeds, as well as to reorganize bullet train schedules nationwide, for safety reasons.

The State Council, or Cabinet, ordered increased safety checks after a fatal train collision that killed 40 people in July raised concerns over the safety of the country's high-speed railways.

The ministry cut the number of high-speed trains running between Beijing and Shanghai to 66 pairs from 88 pairs per day, effective as of Aug. 16.

Meanwhile, the railways transported more than 2.6 billion metric tons of goods from January to August, up 7.8 percent year-on-year, the ministry said.