BEIJING, June 8 -- The number of passenger trips operated by China's urban rail transit networks grew by around 290 million, or 11.7 percent from a year earlier to reach 2.79 billion in May, according to the Ministry of Transport.

On a monthly basis, the passenger traffic increased by about 30 million passengers, or 1.1 percent, the ministry said.

In the meantime, the operation length of 310 urban rail transit lines in 54 Chinese cities reached 10,286.2 kilometers.

Last month, China saw new operation length of 12.5 kilometers, as well as a new section of urban rail transit line in Hefei, Anhui Province, the ministry added.