Service on the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway resumed yesterday afternoon, thanks to thousands of railway workers' efforts.

Linking Beijing and the capital of Guangdong Province in south China, the line was damaged by tropical storm Bilis on Saturday.

The railway is the major north-south transportation line.

After more than 40 hours of rush repairs, passenger train K356 from Guangzhou to Chongqing in Southwest China left Guangzhou Railway Station at 2:30 pm yesterday.

"It is the first train leaving the flood-stricken Guangzhou for the north since the railway's breakdown on Saturday," said Zhang Dazhi, an official with the Guangzhou Railway Group Corporation.

Also, a train from Changchun in Northeast China's Jilin Province to Guangzhou left the Zhuzhou railway station in Central China's Hunan Province at 2:09 pm.

At first, train officials planned to redirect the train to its destination. But it ended up running according to the original plan and became the first train heading south since Saturday.

Tropical storm Bilis, which came ashore on Friday, brought heavy rain and flooding to Guangdong Province.

According to the Ministry of Railways, the flood submerged many parts of the line and a few stations in the province. The floods damaged 19 sections of track.

Five trains were trapped because of the floods, unable to go ahead or return. More than 8,800 passengers were stranded at Meicun, Ankou and Lechang railway stations in Guangdong.

The Guangzhou Railway Group Corporation organized more than 10,000 workers each day to repair the line as fast as they could.

Many workers trudged to the damaged spots in the rain to do rush repairs, in some cases leaving behind their homes, which were damaged by the flood, too, People's Daily reported.

(China Daily July 19, 2006)