5.67 Million passengers

China's railways carried a record number of passengers on the first day of 2013 because of a surge in the number of middle- and short-distance travelers during the New Year's holiday, the Ministry of Railways said on Thursday. About 5.67 million passengers took trains on Jan 1, an increase of 16.3 percent year-on-year. The number of passengers increased the most in Hubei province, with the Wuhan Railway Bureau recording a 41.2 percent year-on-year jump.

(China Daily 01/04/2013 page2)