China battles bitter winter

GUANGZHOU, China, Feb. 17 (UPI) -- Electrical power to a major rail route through China has been restored after being disrupted by a severe snowstorm for nearly a month, it was reported.

Electricity was restored Saturday to three substations in Chenzhou City, which supplies traction power to trains linking Beijing and Guangzhou, Xinhua reported.

Train service came to a standstill on Jan. 25 after heavy snow filled power pylons in Chenzhou.

The train delays left more than 100,000 people stranded before the Ministry of Railways called in 78 diesel locomotives to push the stranded trains, Xinhua reported.

To help deal with the unusual snowfall in Southern China, the People's Liberation Army of China had deployed 729,000 troops. Additionally, about 1.96 million militia and army reservists were helping with disaster relief efforts, the news service said.

Soldiers reportedly have used tanks to crush ice on the roadways and machine guns to shoot ice from power lines.