China plans to put 6,800 kilometers of new railway into operation in 2019, including 3,200 km for high-speed trains, said China Railway Corp on Jan 2.

The country’s railway will be able to handle 3.5 billion passengers and nearly 3.4 billion tons of cargo in the next year.

In 2018, China invested 802.8 billion yuan in rail fixed assets, and 760.3 billion was spent on the expansion of its railway network. 4,683 km of new rail lines opened to traffic, of which 4,100 km were built for high-speed trains.

By the end of last year, China’s operational railway reached 131,000 km, with 29,000 km for bullet trains. The country’s railway network transported 3.4 billion passengers in 2018, up 9.4 percent year-on-year.