More than 300 passengers aboard a through train from Beijing to
Hong Kong arrived at Hung Hom Station Wednesday afternoon after a
prolonged trip due to winter storms that left the train stranded
for almost two days.
The delay of the express train No. T 97 for about 47 hours was
one of the chaotic disruptions of rail and air traffic in China by
heavy snow storms that had battered most provinces in the country'
s central, eastern and southern regions.
It normally took about 25 hours for the express train, which
left China's capital Beijing at 12 o'clock on Sunday noon, to
finish the 2,000-kilometer trip at Hung Hom Railway Station, Hong
Kong. But this time it took 72 hours.
"I am all right," Zhang Hao, a 19-year-old student, said on
leaving the train at Hung Hom Railway Station in Hong Kong, "the
long trip was totally unexpected."
"Fortunately we have radiators on the train and the steward
offered us instant noodles," Zhang said, "some of the passengers
even took the rare chance to make friends."
Other passengers, however, complained that the food provided on
the train was of rather modest serve.
The MTR Corporation, Hong Kong's operator for the through train,
distributed drinking water and posted notices at the Hung Hom
Railway Station. A couple of hotlines had also been set up by the
corporation to inform affected travelers with delays on the train
schedules.
Trains that had been due to leave Hong Kong on return trips to
Beijing were also delayed for the coming days, the MTR Corporation
said, adding that about half of the passengers had canceled their
trip by the train.
More delays were expected for trains departing Hong Kong for
Beijing and Shanghai, the company said in a recorded voice clip on
its hotline.
Travelers were advised to make inquiries ahead of their
departures.
Snow storms and freezing weather whipped provinces of Hubei,
Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui, Jiangsu and Guangdong in central, eastern
and southern China, paralyzing the road and rail traffic and
cutting off power supply to many places in the region. Such weather
occurred almost once every 50 years in the region.
Millions of passengers on their way home for family reunion
during the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays were stranded at rail
stations, airports or in trains, including about 200 tourists from
Hong Kong.
A couple of airports in cities of Shanghai, Hefei, Nanjing and
Changsha, had to be shut down by authorities on the mainland due to
the storms.
At least 11 flights traveling between Hong Kong and cities of
Wuhan, Nanjing, Shanghai, Changsha and Wuxi on the Chinese mainland
were delayed or canceled Wednesday.
Civil aviation authorities said airport in the area were being
reopened but it would take several days for the flights to catch up
with normal schedule.
(Xinhua News Agency January 31, 2008)