BEIJING, Sept. 1 (Xinhuanet) -- China's railway network handled more than 177.9 million passengers during the past two months, down by 7.18 million from the same period last year.

　　Experts here pointed out that the lower figure indicates that the psychological impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) on China's general public is still lingering.

　　Statistics show that during the two-month summer transportationperiod, the first passenger peak following the end of SARS, an average of 2.87 million people took the railway each day, down by 3.9 percent on a daily average over the same period last year.

　　However, officials with the Ministry of Railways point out thatthe summer transportation period has been a key restoration periodof the rail service, which was hit hard by the epidemic.

　　On Aug. 17, this year's peak day, rail passengers reached 3.3 million, up 16,000 from last year's highest record.

　　By early July, the number of passengers had reached about 90 percent of the level for the same period last year, and by late August, the figure was slightly higher than last year. Enditem