"The Swedish Rail Administration will for the first time receive help from the military," Infrastructure Minister Aasa Torstensson told a press conference, according to the TT news agency.

"There is an extreme amount of work left to be done," she said.

Delays and cancellations have plagued the rails ever since abnormally cold temperatures arrived at the start of the year, with the mercury below freezing across Sweden and dropping as low as minus 40 Celsius in the north.

But the situation deteriorated significantly over the weekend, when large amounts of snow fell in the south of the country, clogging rails, and as large numbers of rail switches froze due to the icy temperatures.

Hundreds of thousands of train passengers have been affected by cancellations and delays, and a number of observers have predicted the crisis could have political repercussions.

Swedish military spokeswoman Lena Parkvall meanwhile told AFP around 300 soldiers would be sent to help clear snow from three clogged freight yards.

This, according to the rail administration, would help free up its own employees to clear rails and thaw frozen switches.

"We need extra resources. The huge amounts of snow have made it very difficult for us to keep the rails cleared," Clas Lundstedt, a spokesman for the administration, told AFP.

In Stockholm, where temperatures lingered around minus 10 Celsius (minus five Fahrenheit) on Tuesday, all above ground subway lines were also halted for the third day in a row, as the local mass transport company SL scrambled to lay on replacement buses.

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