BEIJING-- China's railways carried a record total of 67.3 million passengers from Sept 28 to Oct 7, as many Chinese went on a travelling spree for the weeklong National Day holiday, the Ministry of Railways (MOR) said Saturday.

The figure was up 5.8 percent over the same period last year, with a daily record of 8.9 million passengers boarding trains on Oct 1, or National Day, the ministry said.

It said high-speed trains saw passenger surges during the holiday and ticket supplies fell short of demand on some popular routes.

A total of 2,453 additional trains operated during the holiday to meet travel demands, the ministry said.

Difficulties in purchasing tickets have been a major source of complaints against the ministry in recent years, as demand for train tickets is always high during the holiday season.

The ministry has promised to expand ticket booking by phone and online and cut fees for ticket refunds in order to improve service quality.