About 160,000 train passengers were held up on Thursday after heavy snow delayed trains on the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway, one of the country's major north-to-south rail routes.

The Beijing West Railway Station issued a red-level emergency warning after more than 100,000 passengers were held up there after heavy snow hit Zhengzhou, capital of central China's Henan Province and a major railway hub that connects north and south China.

At the Zhengzhou Railway Station, about 60,000 passengers were affected.

From 6:00 a.m. Wednesday, there was heavy snowfall in many areas including Zhengzhou, Wuhan, Shanghai, Xi'an, Jinan and Lanzhou.

More than 20 trains scheduled to leave Beijing West Railway Station were delayed as a result. One train was delayed for more than eight hours, a station official said.

The waiting hall and the station square were bursting at the seams with passengers anxious to check in.

Railway police and armed police were mobilized to maintain order at the station.

The Ministry of Railways, the Beijing municipal government and the Beijing Bureau of Railways have set up a command center in the station to manage resting places and food supplies to affected passengers.

Another major trunk line, the east-west Lianyungang-Lanzhou line, has also been affected by snow and rain.

China's Spring Festival peak travel period started on Saturday. Millions of migrant workers and college students are rushing home for their family reunions on January 29.

(Xinhua News Agency January 20, 2006)