BEIJING, Oct. 10 -- The number of passenger trips handled by China's urban rail transit networks surged 40 percent year on year in September, official data showed.

The Ministry of Transport said 2.49 billion passenger trips were made via China's urban transit networks in 55 cities last month.

The figure was 24.9 percent higher than the average monthly level in 2019.

Two new urban rail transit lines were added nationwide during September, bringing the total number of transit lines to 299, according to the ministry.