It was heavy snowfall yesterday in Zhengzhou of Henan Province, central China's railway hub for the north-south and east-west trunk lines.

There are as yet no reports of stranded passengers but snow continues to pile up, causing major disruptions to services already under immense pressure from the Spring Festival peak travel period.

Zhengzhou Railway Station was put on second-degree emergency alert on Friday to ensure the safety of passengers and to clear snow from roads and railway tracks.

Unexpected snowfall almost paralyzed the railway hub before the holidays, leaving approximately 160,000 passengers stranded at Zhengzhou and Beijing railway stations.

The period between January 14 and February 22 is China's 40-day Spring Festival peak travel season when migrant workers, students and tourists make over 2 billion trips across the country, challenging the capacity of its transport links.

(Xinhua News Agency February 6, 2006)