The loss for the first quarter of 2020 compares with a loss of just Yuan 2.2bn for the same period in 2019 and reflects a 28.1% drop in revenue to Yuan 1883bn.
Passenger ticket revenue fell by 51.1% to Yuan 45.3bn, reflecting a 54.8% drop in passenger traffic to 378 million journeys. Revenue from other activities such as hotels, tourism and catering fell by 32.3% to Yuan 46.4bn.
Conversely, CR achieved a 3.1% increase in freight traffic during the first quarter and carried 8.24 million tonnes of freight.
Bounce back
CR saw a surge in passenger traffic during the spring festival holiday period at the beginning of May. CR operated 7394 passenger trains on May 1 and carried 7.37 million passengers, which it says is a new one-day record. On May 5, the last day of the holiday, CR ran 421 extra trains and expected to carry 6.15 million passengers.
