China's railways saw a rapid growth in passenger and freight transport in the first quarter of 2006, with the total passenger flow hitting 316 million, 23 million more than during the same period last year.

The Ministry of Railways on Friday said that more than 3 million passengers traveled by rail daily in China over the past three months.

The total passenger-kilometers in the railways sector reached 187.67 billion in the first quarter, 16.935 billion more than the previous year, said the ministry.

A total freight traffic of 671.24 million tons was transported in the first quarter, in which leading cargoes like coal, petroleum and chemical fertilizers all increased rapidly, said the ministry.

The railways saw a total freight ton-km of 699.5 billion in the first quarter, a rise of 32 billion ton-km.

The ministry also confirmed that the railway cargo fee would be raised slightly from April 10.

According to the ministry, the national average railway cargo fee will be raised to 9.05 fen (approximately 1.13 U.S. cent) from the current 8.61 fen (about 1.08 cent) per ton every kilometer from April 10, in a bid to ease the low price pressure of railway cargo transportation.

But the ministry noted that coal transport fees on four major coal railways including Datong-Qinhuangdao railway, Fengtai-Shacheng-Datong railway, Beijing-Taiyuan railway and Beijing-Qinhuangdao rail route will remain unchanged.

(Xinhua News Agency April 7, 2006)