Traffic resumed on the flood-ravaged trunk railway linking Beijing and Guangzhou by midday Tuesday, the Guangzhou Railway Group said.

By 5:30 a.m., railway workers had repaired most damaged sections along the railway and Tuesday morning's trial run of a locomotive from Lechang to Shaoguan, two worst ravaged points, proved trains could pass safely, said the group's President Wu Junguang.

The repair work involved more than 5,000 workers and took three days and three nights, he said.

After three days of closure, the Guangzhou Railway Station will see off the first northbound passenger train Tuesday afternoon, and several other railway stations in the province have started to sell tickets again, said Wu.

Floods and rainstorms brought about by typhoon Bilis that landed in China last Friday disrupted part of the north-to-south artery and thousands of passengers were stranded along the route in the past three days.

An earlier report said the water level had risen to over one meter above the track in many places.

Yet Wu said the emergency repair work was still underway in three other flood-damaged sections, where only one-way traffic has resumed and trains still need to slow down while passing these areas.

Minister of Railways Liu Zhijun on Tuesday told the Guangzhou Railway Group to speed up the repair work, and company management said they will try to complete all the repairs by midnight.

"By then, two-way traffic will resume along the route," said Wu.

(Xinhua News Agency July 18, 2006)