BEIJING, June 30 (Xinhua) -- China's national railway network is expected to handle 1.01 billion passenger trips during the 62-day summer travel rush, which will run from Wednesday to Aug. 31, the country's railway operator said on Tuesday.

The figure is higher than the 943 million passenger trips recorded in the same period last year.

Some 16.29 million passenger trips are expected to be made daily on average during the period, according to the China State Railway Group Co., Ltd.

The summer travel rush is usually a busy season for the railway network as college students return home and families travel.

To accommodate the surge in travel demand, railway authorities will schedule additional train services, with a daily average of around 12,000 passenger trains operating nationwide.■