CRI听力:Bad Weather Affects Transportation across China

Transportation in China has been greatly affected by rain and snow since Feb 4, adding to the difficulty for the millions of travelers heading for work after Spring Festival family reunions.

Road, train, and air officials have stepped up efforts to meet the challenge and keep people safe.

CRI's Alexander Aucott has more.

Reporter: Working professionals hurried back to Beijing on the 6th, the last day of the week-long holiday, despite troubles caused by Beijing's first snow of the winter.

Taxi driver Jia says he was kept busy that day.

"There are lots of calls for taxis today; you see, a new call appears now. Normally we don't see this many people taking taxis around this time, but today is different."

Passenger transportation has reached a peak in recent days, with hundreds of millions of people traveling about throughout the country.

Due to bad weather, many highways have been closed in China's eastern provinces. Traffic jams can be seen all over those places.

A normal 10-hour bus trip from Henan province to Shanghai now takes a whole day for some drivers.

"Highways in Henan are all closed; the roads are pretty icy, our speed can only reach 20 to 30 kilometers per hour; a couple of hours is wasted on the road. In the worst cases, seven or eight hours is wasted."

Transportation officials have taken various measures to ensure ambulances can get to where they need to go and to keep commuters moving.

By 4 p.m. on the 6th, most highways had reopened. The rail system had been the main alternative for commuters.

More than eight million people took the train on 6th, a rise of 16.3% compared with last year.

Meanwhile, more facilities have been set up to guarantee safety at train stations.

Song Jianguo, vice party secretary of Beijing West Train Station, says during the current period, 21 temporary trains are in daily service and more will be running in near future.

In terms of air travel, nearly 20 airports in China have been affected by snow fall. Some flights have been canceled.

According to the forecast delivered on the 7th, China's north and south will continue to see rain and snow over the next three days.

Drivers are being warned to be more careful.

For CRI, it is Alexander Aucott.