BEIJING, Oct. 15 -- A total of 1,402 kilometers of new railway lines were put into use across China in the first three quarters of 2023, data from the China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. showed.

Among them, 1,276 kilometers of high-speed tracks were put into operation, according to the group.

A batch of major projects in rail infrastructure construction have been advanced during this period. Fixed-asset investment in China's railways went up 7.1 percent year on year to 508.9 billion yuan (about 70.9 billion U.S. dollars).

China plans to launch new rail lines totaling more than 3,000 km in 2023, including 2,500 km for high-speed trains, said the group.