The quake-damaged Baoji-Chengdu railway reopened on Saturday morning, after being closed for 283 hours. It will allow more disaster relief goods to reach Sichuan Province.

The quake-damaged Baoji-Chengdu railway reopened on Saturday morning, after being closed for 283 hours.

The first train carrying disaster relief supplies in its forty compartments was sent through the quake-damaged railway tunnel on Saturday morning.

The railway, linking Chengdu, the provincial capital of Sichuan, with Baoji City in Shaanxi Province, is a key north-south route in west China.

Railway workers removed the last major blockage on the railway two days ago, allowing repairs to be finished. Workers towed away all the wagons trapped in a tunnel on the northern section of the line.

The southern section of the railway reopened on Friday, after workers finished repairing a key bridge damaged by the earthquake.

The tremor also caused the collapse of the Number 109 tunnel in Huixian County, northwestern Gansu Province. A 40-car freight train derailed and was trapped in the tunnel, paralyzing the railway.

(CCTV May 24, 2008)