Recently, the National Railway Administration released the 2019 Railway Statistics Bulletin (hereinafter referred to as the Statistics Bulletin).
The Statistics Bulletin shows that the national railway passenger and freight traffic maintained their growth in 2019. The railway transport remained safe and stable, the investment in railway construction reached a historical high, new achievements were made in railway scientific and technological innovation, and remarkable achievements were made in green railway development. A total of 93 national standards and industry standards have been released one after another in the railway industry.
First, passenger and freight traffic maintained their growth. In 2019, the national railway registered a ridership of 3.660 billion persons, up 8.4%. The national railway registered a freight traffic of 4.389 billion tons, up 7.2%.
Second, railway transport remained safe and stable. In 2019, there was no serious and major railway traffic accidents on the railways nationwide.
Third, the investment in railway construction reached a historical high. In 2019, the fixed asset investment on railways nationwide reached RMB 802.9 billion, maintaining above RMB 800 billion for six consecutive years. The operation mileage of railways nationwide had reached over 139,000 km, including 35,000 km of HSRs.
Fourth, new technological innovation results were achieved. In 2019, 6 National Science and Technology Awards were awarded to the railway industry, including 2 Second Class Prizes of the State Technological Invention Award and 4 Second Class Prizes of the State Science and Technology Progress Award. In 2019, 280 new fruits of innovation were added into the portfolio of major scientific and technological innovations of the railway industry.
Fifth, green development achieved remarkable results. In 2019, the comprehensive energy consumption by unit traffic volume of national railway decreased by 3.2% over the previous year. COD (chemical oxygen demand) emissions decreased by 6.1% over the previous year; sulfur dioxide emissions decreased by 44.7% over the previous year, indicating a remarkable result in continuously promoting pollution control and winning the “Blue Sky Protection” Campaign.
