Passenger travel via railways with the China Railway Guangzhou Group increased dramatically in the first 10 days of the summer travel rush, according to the railway operator.

More than 19.39 million passenger trips, an increase of 51.3 percent compared with the same period of 2022, were registered during July 1-10 via railways with the Guangzhou railway group.

The summer travel rush, usually a busy season for the country's railway system as college students return home and transport demand due to family visits and travel soars, will last for 62 days until August 31.

"The sustained high passenger flow was due to a combination of various factors, including students returning home from major universities, primary and secondary schools, parents and children visiting and traveling during the summer vacation," said Xie Chaofang, marketing director of passenger transport department of China Railway Guangzhou Group.

Also, a large number of tourist passengers was reported in provinces of Guangdong and Hunan after the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Xie.

In Shantou, a coastal city in eastern Guangdong, railway passenger number also increased sharply in the first 10 days of the summer travel rush, reaching 150,000 trips, an increase of 91 percent compared with that of 2022.

The daily passenger volume through the Shantou Railway Station surpassed 18,000 trips from Saturday to Monday, according to data from the station.

New trains from Shantou to West Kowloon in Hong Kong and popular tourism destinations began their operation services during the summer travel rush. These destinations include Wuhan of Hubei province, Yueyang of Hunan province and Guilin of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.