China’s high-speed trains transported 10 billion passengers by the end of the first quarter of 2019, according to China Railway (CR), the country’s top railway operator.

China has seen rapid development in its railway network over the past years. The nation’s first high-speed rail, Beijing-Tianjin high-speed train was put into service in 2008.

By the end of 2018, the total length of the nation’s high-speed railway reached 29,000 kilometers, accounting for more than two-thirds of the total high-speed railway in the world.

According to Lu Dongfu, CR’s general manager, the country plans to build 3,200 kilometers of high-speed railways in 2019. The total length is expected to exceed 30,000 km after completion.

Since the inaugural operation on June 26, 2017, Fuxing bullet trains have transported 193 million passengers by the end of March, 2019, with 74.9 percent of the guest seats occupied.

Now, high-speed trains have become the major means of transport in China. Over 72 million railway trips were made during the past May Day holiday.