BEIJING, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Operation distance of China's urban rail transits totaled at 776 km by the end of 2008, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development announced on Sunday.

    These urban rail transits, located in 10 Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, transported 2.21 billion person-times every year by 2008.

    Currently, 50 rail transit projects with a total length of 1,154 km are being constructed in 15 Chinese cities, according to the ministry.

    Lu Kehua, deputy head of the ministry's urban development department said, 22 cities of the country were expected to build 79 rail transits with a total distance of 2,259.84 km by around 2015. The total investment would top 882 billion Yuan (12.9 billion U.S. dollars).