BEIJING, Aug. 5 -- The number of passenger trips operated by China's railways soared 124.9 percent year on year during the first half of this year (H1), data from the Ministry of Transport showed.

More than 1.77 billion passenger trips were made via China's railways during this period, according to the ministry.

The country's railways also transported about 2.5 billion tonnes of cargo in the first half of the year, up 0.6 percent from the same period last year.

China's fixed-asset investment in railways climbed 6.9 percent year on year to 304.9 billion yuan (about 42.69 billion U.S. dollars) in the same period, the data revealed.