BERLIN, July 25 (Xinhua) -- The German National Railway Company (Deutsche Bahn) has recorded a rise in revenue and passenger numbers during the first six months of 2018, a half-year report published on Wednesday by the state-owned company showed.

Gross revenue at Deutsche Bahn rose by 2.3 percent to 21.5 billion euros (25.2 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half of 2018. The company now expects to record a comparable annual increase in sales to a total volume of 44 billion euros.

The earnings figures underscored continued growth in demand for passenger rails services in Germany. Deutsche Bahn emphasized that the number of passengers transported on its long-haul connections grew by 3.8 percent to the record figure of 70.9 million by the end of June.

"People are more mobile than ever. For more and more citizens, the German National Railway Company is the key to a transition to climate-friendly transportation," a statement by Deutsche Bahn director Richard Lutz read.

He added that his company would now focus on promoting the digitalization of its services in order to develop new and better products for customers.

Germany has witnessed a surge in domestic traffic on motorways in the recent years. As a consequence, the country's transport sector has not recorded any reduction in CO2 emissions since 1990.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has vowed to lower emissions significantly until 2030, granting more environmentally-friendly transportation methods like railway traffic a place of prominence on her government's agenda.

Lutz expressed confidence that a domestic trend towards greater railway use as desired by the federal government was already underway. "The managing board is convinced that Deutsche Bahn faces great opportunities during the coming years as part of a growing industry and as by far most environmentally-friendly transportation solution", he said.

Preparing for more customer demand in order to be able to grasp this opportunity, Deutsche Bahn raised its net investment from 1.5 billion euros to 1.9 billion euros during the first half of 2018.

While revenue was up between January and June, earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) fell by 17.4 percent to 974 million euros. Deutsche Bahn mainly attributed the weaker profitability of its operations to one-off costs caused by storms, a decline in cargo traffic and additional investments in the punctuality of its services.