Railway workers have removed the last major blockage on the quake-damaged Baoji-Chengdu railway, allowing for the completion of repairs, the Ministry of Railways announced Thursday.

Workers towed away all the wagons trapped in a tunnel on the northern section of the line, said a statement from the ministry, but it could give no definite date for the reopening of the line, saying only it would be "soon".

However, a CCTV report from the scene Thursday afternoon said it would reopen on Saturday after railway workers cleared the debris and fixed the tunnel.

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

The southern section of the railway reopened Friday after workers finished repairs on a key bridge that was damaged by the 8.0-magnitude earthquake in southwest China on May 12.

The tremor also caused the collapse of the No. 109 tunnel in Huixian County, northwestern Gansu Province. A 40-car freight train derailed and was trapped in the tunnel, paralyzing the railway.

(Xinhua News Agency May 22, 2008)