BEIJING — China’s railway network has started to prepare for rising passenger traffic as some 598 million trips are expected during the upcoming summer travel peak.

On average, 9.65 million trips are expected on trains each day during the travel peak, which starts on July 1 and ends on August 31, according to the China Railway Corporation (CRC).

The volume marked a year-on-year increase of 9.1 percent.

Starting next month, the railway network will adopt a new operation schedule with 46 trains added to cope with the increasing number of passengers.

In China, summer holidays for students usually last from early July to the end of August, driving up passenger flows on railways.

China has a vast and efficient railway network. As of the end of 2016, China had a 124,000-km railway network, featuring the world’s largest high-speed rail network of more than 22,000 km.