China Railway Travel Hits 8-year Low in Summer Months on Virus Flare-Ups

An employee in the cab of a train inside Zhengzhou East Railway Station during the annual travel rush ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year, in Zhengzhou, Henan province, China, on Jan. 13, 2020. Jason Lee/Reuters

BEIJING—Railway travel in China hit an eight-year trough and a pandemic low in the usually busy summer season, according to official data, as fresh virus flare-ups curbed mobility and hit tourist confidence.

Some 440 million passenger trips were taken on China’s railway network between July 1 and Aug. 31, its lowest since 2014, data from China Railway showed.