BEIJING, Oct. 19 -- China has continued to promote railway construction since the start of the year, the China Railway Group Limited said Thursday.

Fixed-asset investment in China's railway sector hit 508.9 billion yuan (about 70.88 billion U.S. dollars) from January to September, up 7.1 percent year on year.

Some 1,402 km of new railway lines were put into operation during the period, including 1,276 km of high-speed railways.

China's railway operation mileage reached 155,000 km by the end of last year, with 42,000 km of high-speed railways.