BEIJING, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese railways have seen record numbers of passengers and record freight volume since the country hiked up rail speeds on April 18, said the Ministry of Railways on Saturday.

    The country's railways transported 115 million people in the past thirty days, up 4 percent on the same period of last year. Freight totaled 263 million tons, up 7 percent.

    A new daily passenger record was created on May 1, the first day of the weeklong Labor Day holidays, when 5.48 million people climbed onto trains.

    Ministry sources said more than 99 percent of the trains started and arrived on time and ticket prices remained stable.

    "The journey time of the Z59/58 between Beijing and Fuzhou, for example, has been shortened by nearly 14 hours. But the ticket price remained unchanged," said a ministry official.

    All high-speed trains were fully booked, said the official.

    He said more high-speed trains will be used to meet growing demand on coming holidays, adding that the ministry is now focusing on improving safety precautions.

    The country will put more than 500 China-made high-speed trains into operation this year after boosting the speed limit for rail traffic for the sixth time, said the ministry in April.

    The high-speed trains travel at speeds of up to 250 kilometers per hour. Currently, express trains in China travel at an average of 115 kilometers per hour.