Beijing-Guangzhou railway back in use

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Source: CCTV.com | 02-01-2008 09:38

After several days of intense repair work, the southern section of the Beijing-Guangzhou railway is now back in operation greatly alleviating pressure on the transport system. The Ministry of Railways says passenger capacity from Guangzhou is now at 400,000 per day up from 100,000 in recent days.

After several days of intense repair work, the southern section of the Beijing-Guangzhou railway is now back in operation greatly alleviating pressure on the transport system.

The harsh weather has lasted days, and inflicted severe damage on the power grid supplying the Beijing-Guangzhou railroad.

Using internal combustion engines, the southern section of the artery was back in action on Wednesday. By Thursday morning, 51 trains had left for Beijing.

Right now efforts are being made to further increase the number of passenger trains.

Wang Yongping, spokesman of Ministry of Railways, said, "Over the past two days, 210 passenger trains were sent out in the Guangzhou area. About 390,000 people boarded trains. Starting Thursday, the Beijing-Guangzhou railroad and Beijing Kowloon railroad are sending out 200 pairs of trains each day. This means that more than 400,000 homebound travellers can leave Guangzhou everyday. The ministry has relocated more than 6,000 workers to boost the transportation capacity of Guangzhou area."

There are still more than two million people in Guangzhou waiting to leave. With the Beijing-Guangzhou railroad back in use, it is hoped that they can still all make it home for next week's Lunar New Year.

A helicopter survey on Wednesday afternoon showed that urban traffic flow was improving fast in Guangzhou.

The number of passengers at Guangzhou Railway Station has now fallen to less than 10,000. Local police have deployed nearly 3,000 officers at the square in front of the station.

On Wednesday, nearly 3.9 million people boarded homebound trains across the country, 124,000 more than on the previous day.

Meanwhile, railway services are running normally in northern part of the country. And the situation is looking up along the snow-hit routes from Beijing to Guangzhou, Beijing to Kowloon and Shanghai to Kunming.

Editor:Zhang Ning