BEIJING, July 9 (Xinhua) -- China's railway police authority has launched a campaign to ensure railway security, especially the security for high-speed railway.

The campaign, which started from Monday and will run through the end of the year, will focus on the security of both the railway network and the passengers, said Bai Shaoqiang, deputy head of the railway police department of the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), at a press conference Tuesday.

The official pledged a "zero tolerance" approach in handling problems threatening railway security, adding that the information sharing and awareness promotion on relevant issues will also be enhanced.

Thanks to the authorities' railway security measures, the number of railway-related criminal cases nationwide in the first half of this year decreased by 17 percent on a year-on-year basis, and relevant minor offenses dropped by 6 percent, according to Bai.

Guo Lin, an MPS spokesperson, quoted big data statistics as saying that China saw 3.37 billion railway trips in 2018.