China's railways have handled 872 million passenger trips as of Friday during this year's summer travel rush, a 6.2-percent increase from the previous year, according to data released on Saturday.

The average daily number of railway passenger trips reached 14.29 million between July 1 and August 30, as reported by China State Railway Group Co., Ltd., the country's railway operator.

Strong demand for student travel, tourism and family visits contributed to maintaining a high level of railway passenger flow, according to the company.

This year, the summer travel rush spans from July 1 to August 31.

According to separate data from the Ministry of Transport, a total of 37.99 billion inter-regional trips were made in China during the first seven months of the year, marking a 6.6-percent increase from the previous year.