Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Wednesday visited passengers stranded at the Guangzhou Railway Station in the southern province of Guangdong, saying the government will try its best to make sure they can go home for family reunion for the upcoming lunar New Year.

Speaking through a megaphone to a large crowd, Wen told passengers: "You all want to go home and I completely understand how you feel. We are now fixing the power grid. Once the power supply resumes, trains will be running."

Wen had visited stranded passengers in Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province, before arriving in Guangzhou.

Heavy snow and icy rain since Jan. 10 have caused traffic standstill at a peak season when millions of Chinese are on their way home to celebrate the Spring Festival with their families.

"All the works are proceeding expeditiously and orderly. The number of trains that resume services is increasing everyday," Wen told the passengers in Guangzhou.

"We are working hard to make sure you all can go home soon and be with your family for the holiday," he said.

By Wednesday about 217,000 passengers had been stranded in Guangzhou because the southern end of the Beijing-Guangzhou rail line, a north-south trunk, has been paralyzed by heavy snow in Hunan Province, where power transmission facilities have been knocked out.

Many trains have been delayed and traffic on the Beijing-Guangzhou line is unlikely to return to normal within the next three to five days as snow is persisting in central China.

Earlier this week, Premier Wen rushed to Hunan to help with the central China province's disaster relief work following an unprecedented snowfall.

He arrived in Changsha City, the provincial capital, on Tuesday morning. Then he immediately held meetings with officials from Hunan and those in departments under the State Council on how to combat ice and snow and how to better direct the disaster relief work.

Disasters caused by prolonged low temperature, icy rain and heavy snow has killed 38 people in China since Jan. 10, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs on Wednesday.

Altogether 17 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities including Hubei, Hunan and Anhui have been affected. 

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Premier Wen Jiabao on Wednesday visited passengers stranded at the railway station in the southern city of Guangzhou. He promised them that the government would do its best to ensure they got home for lunar New Year. Full story