Xinhua News Agency
August 15, 2014
LHASA, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) — A second railway line in southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, an extension of the Qinghai-Tibet railway, the world’s highest, was officially put into use on Friday.
The 251-km railway line links the regional capital Lhasa and Xigaze, the second-largest city in the region. It reduces the travel time from the current four hours by highway to around two hours.
Tickets for the new line went on sale Friday. The first passenger train is scheduled to leave Lhasa for Xigaze at 9 a.m. Saturday.
Construction of the railway started in 2010 with an investment of 13.28 billion yuan (2.16 billion U.S. dollars). Due to complicated geological conditions, numerous bridges and tunnels and hefty investment in environmental protection, the cost of the railway exceeded 50,000 yuan per meter on average, making it the most expensive in China’s history.
“The railway will make transportation of our goods more convenient and reduce the transport costs a lot, compared with highways,” said Jampa Daintar, general manager of a Tibetan foodstuff company in Xigaze, which produces traditional barley liquor and other food products.
The new railway brings the total length of operating railways in Tibet to 802 km.
Zhang Lizhong, deputy head of the Lhasa-Xigaze railway construction headquarters, said the rail route design has attempted to bypass a state-level black-necked crane nature reserve in the middle reaches of the Yarlung Zangpo River and a water source protection area in Qushui County.
To lessen the impact on the migration of wild animals, viaducts were built on major sections of the route, said Zhang.
The Lhasa-Xigaze railway represents a new stage in Chinese rail construction, said Xu Hongchun, the railway’s chief designer.
It demonstrates that China has gained mature technologies for high plateau construction, he said.
The Lhasa-Xigaze railway passes through harsh terrain, including Nagqu, Damxung and Nyemo, all active regions with high-temperature geothermal springs in southern Tibet.
Its route also extends through the 60-km-long Yarlung Zangbo River Grand Canyon region, which has multiple hot or thermal springs ranging from 40 to 90 degrees Celsius.
“Drilling into the hot rocks, rail workers had difficulty breathing due to oxygen deficiency,” said Xu.
The Lhasa-Xigaze railway, which lies in alpine valleys along the Yarlung Zangbo River, showcases China’s modern railway bridge and tunnel-building technology.
Its 116 bridges and 29 tunnels account for 46 percent of the total length of the railway.
The Qinghai-Tibet Railway, which began service in 2006, has greatly boosted Tibet’s tourism and other sectors.
Tourist arrivals in Tibet reached 12.9 million last year from 1.8 million in 2005. Tourism revenue increased from 1.94 billion yuan to 16.5 billion yuan during the period.
Tonzhub, a hotel owner in Lnaze County, Xigaze, says he plans to renovate and expand the hotel.
“More tourists will come here with the new railway in operation,” says Tonzhub.
