Railway traffic that had been blocked due to sleet since Friday on the Harbin-Dalian Electrified Railway returned to normal Sunday evening.

Since Friday, rain has hit northeast China's Liaoning Province, followed by moderate snow and strong gales. Low temperatures and freezing caused malfunctions of the railway line in several sections.

By 6:00 a.m. Sunday, 62 passenger trains and 37 freight trains had been delayed, and 65 freight trains had been canceled.

Following the report of the breakdown, the railway department sent out emergency technician teams to repair the equipment, and 20,000 employees to help clean up snow on the rails. By 8:00 p.m. Sunday evening, all the railway traffic has been resumed.

The railway, linking Dalian in Liaoning Province and Harbin in Heilongjiang Province, went into operation in 2001.

The sleet also caused the closure of air and expressway traffic and long periods of blackouts in several cities in the province.

(Xinhua News Agency February 23, 2004)