The number of passengers stranded in south China's Guangdong Province has risen further as the New Year's travel peak approaches, despite massive efforts to get people moving.

According to the Ministry of Railways, as of 6 AM Tuesday, some 199 trains had left the Guangzhou railway station, carrying 40,000 passengers. The mass of stranded travelers, however, showed no signs of abating as the Lunar New Year neared.

Passenger build-up has been heavy along the paralyzed southern end of the North-South rail artery that links Beijing with Guangzhou, notably the Hengyang-Changsha line.

The volatile weather caused more power disruptions in southwest Guizhou and eastern Jiangxi provinces, even as power problems were sorted out in central Hunan Province. The new disruptions hampered the recovery of rail transport.

The railway and communications authorities tried to help the stranded travelers by providing food and medicine. Nanjing bus station opened more windows for ticket refunds, and heaters were running at full capacity to keep passengers warm.

The China Meteorological Administration (CMA) forecast that the prolonged snow and sleet would ease after Feb. 2.

Heavy snow since mid-January, the worst in 50 years in southern, central and eastern areas, has forced the closure of airports and expressways, in addition to train delays.

The havoc prompted many travelers to resort to car pools to avoid the crush of travel and traffic woes. Some people also said that they thought car pooling would save money and offer the chance to make new friends. However, the China Consumer's Association (CCA) advised travelers that it would be safer to ride with acquaintances or friends, and it warned people to beware of the danger of sharing cars with strangers.

It said that an exchange of identity cards between drivers and passengers was essential and names used on web sites were not enough.

CCA also suggested that driving hours should be limited to 10 and that personal accident insurance was advisable.

The latest figure released by the Ministry of Communications showed highway transportation carried 53.58 million passengers on Tuesday, 1.52 million less than a day earlier. The number is 1.6 percentage points lower year on year.

(Xinhua News Agency January 30, 2008)