China's railway freight transport achieved a record-high quarterly freight volume in the third quarter, handling over one billion tonnes of goods, or a year-on-year increase of 3.8 percent, according to China State Railway Group Co., Ltd.
The freight trains shipped 520 million tonnes of coal in the third quarter, up 3.5 percent year on year, with 21.59 million tonnes shipped from northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, shooting up 38 percent from the same period last year, which well meets the need of coal transport for key enterprises.
During the same period, 9.58 million containers were dispatched by railway, a 17.3-percent climb year on year.
This year, railway enterprises signed 465 logistics contracts, with the transport volume totaling 485 million tonnes.
The implementation of market-oriented pricing reforms in the railway cargo transport resulted in approximately 42.34 billion yuan (more than 5.96 million U.S. dollars) in savings for businesses this year.
China's railway transport handles record 1 bln tonnes of goods in Q3
Emergency responses were made in the cities of Altay and Hami of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region as snow accompanied by drastic temperature drop and strong wind caused disruptions to local transportation and animal husbandry from Friday to Saturday.
Urban transportation had been impacted by sleet in Altay since Friday night. More traffic police were deployed to key road sections to mitigate traffic congestion. Meanwhile personnel and snowplows were sent by local authorities to remove snow in an effort to ensure safe travel for local residents.
Professionals were also sent to herdsmen's homes by local agricultural authorities to check if they had enough stocked hay for their livestock as bad weather prevented them from eating pastures in the open air.
A blue alert was released by local weather service on Sunday, warning residents in Altay of strong winds in the following two days, with parts of the region to see gale up to 89-102 km per hour.
Similar situation was found in Barkol Kazakh Autonomous County, Hami City, where local herdsmen fed their livestock with corns and straws prepared before the drastic temperature dropped.
Hami Meteorological Observatory on Friday released a yellow alert, warning that roads in the city's northern and mountainous regions could see increasing ice in days ahead.
Emergency responses triggered as snow hits parts of Xinjiang
