Storyline: China's railway logged 940 million passenger trips during this year's summer travel rush, hitting a record high, the China State Railway Group announced on Monday. This year's summer travel rush lasted for 62 days from July 1 to Aug. 31. The summer travel rush by rail, driven mainly by tourism and family visits, saw steady week-by-week growth. Weekly passenger volume consistently surpassed 100 million, with a daily average of approximately 15 million trips, 2.2 million more per day than during this year's Spring Festival travel rush. To meet the high demand, operators nationwide raised train speed on key high-speed rail sections to 350 km/h, expanded services to more county-level stations, operated an average of 11,000 passenger trains daily across the national railway network, and increased transport capacity by nearly 10 percent compared to the same period of last year. A real-time monitoring system was also used to improve safety and scheduling efficiency. "We dynamically monitored travel patterns, made precise, flexible adjustments to train schedules, and timely increased transport capacity on popular routes and during peak periods. As a result, passenger volume continued to grow steadily," said Yang Lipeng, a researcher at the 12306 Science and Innovation Center of China State Railway Group. Meanwhile, road trips accounted for 73 percent of all cross-regional travel during the summer travel rush, with self-driving trips to rural areas growing in popularity. Scenic regions such as Tianhu Mountain in Jiangxi and cultural sites in Hunan upgraded their surrounding highways to accommodate more visitors. The summer travel rush significantly boosted local tourism. "Student travel, tourist flow and study tour were highly popular during the summer travel rush, effectively boosting domestic tourism consumption. It is estimated that the number of domestic tourist trips during this summer will exceed 2.5 billion," said Ala Akbay, deputy director of the Comprehensive Transport Division of the Department of Transport Services under the Ministry of Transport. According to the latest data from the Ministry of Transport, cross-regional passenger trips of all modes of transport reached 11.9 billion during this year's summer travel rush, with a daily average of 192 million, up 4.3 percent year on year. Shotlist: FILE: China - July 2025: 1. Aerial shots of train running FILE: Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province, east China - July 2025: 2. Various of passengers on platform FILE: China - July 2025: 3. Passengers on platform 4. Various of high-speed train moving Beijing, China - Recent: 5. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Yang Lipeng, researcher, 12306 Science and Innovation Center, China State Railway Group (ending with shot 6): "We dynamically monitor travel patterns and make precise, flexible adjustments to train schedules, promptly increasing capacity on popular routes and during peak periods. As a result, passenger volume has continued to grow steadily." China - Recent: 6. Various of passengers taking escalator, getting on train 7. Aerial shots of train running 8. Various of workers working on railway 9. Various of railway staff members working in control room, screen showing animation 10. Various of traffic on highway, mountainous road, interchange 11. Various of tourists on grassland waving at camera Beijing, China - Recent: 12. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Ala Akbay, deputy director, Comprehensive Transport Division, Department of Transport Services, Ministry of Transport (ending with shot 13): "Student travel, tourist flow and study tour were highly popular during the summer travel rush, effectively boosting domestic tourism consumption. It is estimated that the number of domestic tourist trips during this summer will exceed 2.5 billion." China - Recent: 13. Various of passengers at railway station, on platform FILE: Shangri-La City, Yunnan Province, southwest China - July 2025: 14. Various of high-speed train running, flowers 15. Various of tourists dancing, walking on street 16. Aerial shots of Tiger Leaping Gorge scenic spot, tourists FILE: Rongcheng City, Shandong Province, east China - July 2025: 17. Aerial shots of beach, cliff, tourists, sea gulls flying 18. Aerial shot of seaside houses. [Restrictions : No access Chinese mainland]