The organization lifted its warning against travel to the province on May 23 as the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) eased.

The province's transport sector experienced dramatic reductions in passenger flow in the two months before the organization's warning was lifted.

Chen Zichang, deputy director-general with the province's transport department, said: "The lifting of the ban should be regarded as an opportunity for the further upgrading of the transport industry."

The current transport structure must be adjusted to upgrade passenger capacity and speed, he said.

There should be more routes and these routes should better cater to passenger needs and increase efficiency, Chen added.

Some software should be updated and there should be greater transparency of information, he said.

"A new stage, new starting point and new tasks give us new challenges and opportunities," Chen said.

Gu Hongxi, chief economist with the Guangzhou Railway (Group) Corp, said the daily passenger flow had plunged from about 310,000 passengers at the end of March to 140,000 at one stage. But, with a daily recovery rate of 6 to 7 percent, the railway now transports 160,000 passengers a day.

"Since two-thirds of our transport is for carrying passengers, the reduced flow due to the (SARS) epidemic did us great damage," Gu said.

It will take a relatively long time for the rail sector to recover completely, he said. "If we can get back to normal by August, we will be happy," he added.

Gu said he and his fellow workers have to deal with "really hard jobs" every day because there is still a lot of intensive monitoring and checking work to be done.

"The lifting of the ban is good news, especially for the tourist industry, but we still cannot treat SARS prevention work lightly," Gu said.

A passenger with a fever cannot be allowed to board a train, "although sometimes we know very clearly he is not a SARS suspect," he added.

Further checks and observations and even isolation work have to be done, which adds to Gu's routine work.

Some 306 medical workers and 146 cadres have been selected to inspect 293 passenger trains coming in and going out every day.

Road transportation is 40 to 60 percent down on its usual daily levels, according to Liu Xiaohua, director of the Highway Transportation Administration Division of the province's transport department.

But he said his department is considering adapting some passenger vehicles to cargo use.

"That's one of our ways of saving ourselves," Liu said.

As for the air transport sector, Li Kun, deputy general manager of China Southern Airlines, said: "An effective series of favorable policies have been drawn up to attract passengers."

It is offering preferential discounts to medical workers fighting SARS, while the Chinese medical worker who develops a SARS vaccine will get permanent free flights with the airline.

(China Daily June 5, 2003)