Passengers stranded on the rails after Monday's strong earthquake in southwest China's Sichuan Province have begun to head for safe places, according to the Ministry of Railways.

A total of 787 passengers onboard the train K291 from Shanghai to Chengdu have been arranged to evacuate in 20 microbuses at South Guangyuan station by 10 AM on Tuesday, said Wang Yongping, spokesman of the Ministry of Railways.

More than 6,000 people on eight passenger trains were originally stranded on the Baoji-Chengdu Railway following the 7.8-magnitude earthquake in the region.

Trains No. 7403 and No.7404 running between Puji and the provincial capital Chengdu, have managed to move to nearby stations, while other five trains, namely K390 from Chengdu to Fuzhou, T8 from Chengdu to Beijing, T7 from Beijing to Chengdu, K117 from Beijing to Panzhihua and No. 1485 from Taiyuan to Chengdu, were heading for nearby stations.

Wang said the ministry had got in touch with the stranded trains, and passengers were provided with free food, drug and drinking water. They were all emotionally stable at the moment, he said.

About 180 trains, including 31 passenger trains and 149 cargo trains, were stranded on the Baoji-Chengdu Railway, the Chengdu-Kunming Railway, the Chengdu-Chongqing Railway and their branch railways linking Chengdu with the rest of the country after the quake caused multiple landslides and collapses along railways near Chengdu.

The ministry also dispatched two trains with more than 2,800 rescue members onboard from Kunming to Chengdu as well as 115 loads of food, drug, oil and tents from Zhengzhou and Wuhan to quake-hit areas, he added.

(Xinhua News Agency May 13, 2008)