Premier Wen visits passengers stranded in Guangzhou

Published on January 30, 2008 by brooks | This story has been viewed 159 times

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Wednesday visited passengers stranded at the railway station in the southern city of Guangzhou, saying the government will try its best to make sure they can go home for family reunion for the upcoming lunar New Year.

Speaking through a megaphone to a large crowd, Wen told passengers: “You all want to go home and I completely understand how you feel. We are now fixing the power grid. Once the power supply resumes, trains will be running.”

Wen visited stranded passengers in Changsha, capital of central China’s Hunan Province, before arriving in Guangzhou.

Heavy snow and icy rain since Jan. 10 have caused traffic standstill at a peak season when millions of Chinese are on their way home to celebrate the Spring Festival with their families.

“All the works are proceeding expeditiously and orderly. The number of trains that resume services is increasing everyday,” Wen told the passengers in Guangzhou.

“We are working hard to make sure you all can go home soon and be with your family for the holiday,” he said.

Wen also boarded a train bound for Wuchang in Hubei Province and greeted passengers.

“The Premier was in Hubei the day before yesterday and in Hunan yesterday. I do not expect him to come to Guangzhou today despite the rain. I feel warmth in my heart,” said a passenger.

In his visit to the China Southern Power Grid, the premier ordered the company to mobilize all forces available and take all measures possible to fix power equipment and streamline power distribution.

Wen then chaired a meeting with officials from Guangdong Province and the Railway Ministry. “In the short term, Guangdong’s priority is to let passengers go home as soon as possible. In the long term, Guangdong needs to set up a mechanism that safeguards the supply of coal, electricity and oil,” he said.

“After thirty years of reform and opening-up, we have abundant material stock. With efficient organization, we can definitely overcome the current difficulties,” he added.

By Wednesday, about 217,000 passengers had been stranded in Guangzhou because the southern end of the Beijing-Guangzhou railway line, a north-south trunk railway, has been paralyzed by heavy snow in Hunan Province, where power transmission facilities have been knocked out.

Many trains have been delayed and traffic on the Beijing-Guangzhou line is unlikely to return to normal within the next three to five days as snow is persisting in central China.

Earlier this week, Premier Wen rushed to Hunan to help with the central China province’s disaster relief work following an unprecedented snowfall.

He arrived in Changsha City, the provincial capital, on Tuesday morning. Then he immediately held meetings with officials from Hunan and those in departments under the State Council on how to combat ice and snow and how to better direct the disaster relief work.

Disasters caused by prolonged low temperature, icy rain and heavy snow has killed 38 people in China since Jan. 10, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs on Wednesday.

Altogether 17 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities including Hubei, Hunan and Anhui have been affected.

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