Half a million soldiers, 14,000 doctors and nurses and untold numbers of pots of instant noodles have been deployed across central and southern China to help the millions of travellers still stranded by the worst winter storms for half a century.

A day after his unusual appearance at a station in south-central China to show the Government’s concern Wen Jiabao, the Prime Minister, reached the southern city of Guangzhou where up to half a million people have been caught up in the transport chaos. Mr Wen told those still camped around the station in hopes of catching a train home for the Chinese New Year holiday to keep their spirits up.

He said: “This has been very hard on everyone. Currently all levels of government are working on getting electricity restored. After that, transport will resume.”

At least 460,000 troops from the People’s Liberation Army and the paramilitary forces have fanned out across some of the worst-hit regions where transport – already strained by a tide of humanity heading home for the biggest holiday of the year – has ground to a halt amid the bad weather. Officials estimate that a record 179 million people plan to travel by train to reach home for the festival, up from 156 million last year. It is the biggest human migration on Earth.

State media said: “The troops were ordered to give whatever assistance local governments required.”

More than one million police have joined the work to restore traffic, maintain crowd control and help travellers in difficulty. Some station workers made their way on foot along the tracks to deliver pots of instant noodles and other emergency supplies to passengers trapped in trains halted because heavy ice had brought down many power lines.

Passengers on slow train K226 must have been brimming with excitement as they crowded aboard for the 36-hour journey that would take them home to their families. The trip was to turn into a nightmare.

The train took 48 hours from the south-central city of Changsha to the southern city of Guangzhou, stopping and starting countless times as the wheels ground to a halt after snow blocked the line or ice snapped the electricity transmission lines.

Food and water ran out long before train K226 neared its destination. Travellers were plunged into darkness for hours while snowstorms and blizzards raged outside. Their mobile phones quickly ran out of power, leaving people unable to contact anxious relatives waiting for them to arrive.

Li Yun was on train T202 from the southernmost city of Sanya to Beijing and all seemed normal until they approached Guangzhou. Then the train would halt for an hour and move forward for ten minutes. By the time they reached the station they were eight hours late. He awoke next morning to find they had yet to reach the city outskirts.

As the locomotive inched forward through the worst-hit province of Hunan, food supplies ran out. At Binzhou station passengers poured on to the platform and fought over instant noodles and bottled water. What should have been a 35-hour journey ended 68 hours after it started. Mr Li said: “The nightmare is over.”

For tens of millions more hoping for a family reunion on New Year’s Day on February 7, the agony continues.

One Beijing office worker said: “My parents live in Hunan but I can’t get home. This will be the first time I have ever spent new year apart from my parents.”

Most of the airports closed by snow and blizzards for the past few days have now reopened and transport authorities are trying to clear up the backlog of passengers waiting for a flight.

It is not only travellers who have been affected. Freight trains, too, have been paralysed by the severe weather. Coal reserves at some power stations have fallen to as low as just two days' supply, threatening power-generation capability when demand for heating is at a peak. About 30 million of China’s 1.3 billion people have already been hit by power outages.

The authorities fear a spurt in food prices, already rising sharply nationwide, could further fuel inflation and fuel social discontent at a time of year when families gather for celebratory feasts.

He Mingtong, a migrant worker, summed up the feelings of many. “Officials and the Communist Party know that they have to do a good job dealing with this mess or there will be bigger problems.”

Times Recommends

• Rio Tinto four held as China prepares case
• Diplomats must keep heads down and trousers up
• When in Rome should one make like Berlusconi?