TibetanReview.net
Mar 11, 2014
China is to spend an estimated 30 billion yuan ($4.9 billion) to build a Lhasa-Nyingchi (Tibetan: Nyingtri) railway line over the next three to four years, with the construction set to begin later this year, reported the official China Daily newspaper Mar 10 (also posted on the official eng.tibet.cn website Mar 10). China has already announced that it will complete and begin operating the ongoing 253-km Lhasa-Xigaze (Shigatse) railway line by October this year.
Once completed, the Chinese railway network will reach the doorstep of India’s border state of Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims as its territory as a part of its claim over Tibet.
The announcement of the planned new construction was made by Lobsang Jamcan, chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region government. Explaining the railway’s strategic importance, he has said, “I travelled to the border regions at Nyingchi, Xigaze and Ali (Ngari) prefectures last year, and I discovered that the construction of roads and infrastructure in these regions, which are important for national security, lags far behind. Many border roads and transport facilities of neighboring India are edging closer to territory under our control.”
He has told the Tibetan deputies attending the ongoing National People’s Congress in Beijing that the government was “preparing to begin building the Lhasa-Nyingchi railway when we hold a ceremony to mark the start of operations for the Lhasa-Xigaze railway”. That will be in October this year at the latest.
The report said the feasibility study on the 435-km-long Lhasa-Nyingchi railway had been completed and was ready to be sent to the central authorities for review and possible approval.
Wangdoi, head of Nyingchi prefecture, has explained the new railway line’s economic importance to China. “We have 200,000 people living in an area rich in resources. Poor transport conditions are creating a bottleneck for economic development in the area,” he was quoted as saying.
He has added that the railway will also boost tourism in the area, noting, “Two and a half million people visited Nyingchi prefecture and spent 2.2 billion yuan last year.”
He has also explained the new railway’s importance to the overall transport infrastructure of China, noting that it could be an extension line that links Lhasa with Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, and could complement air and road corridors as part of a larger transport network.
The report cited Liu Xiaobin, a senior official of the National Development and Reform Commission, China’s top economic planner, as saying China’s central government will give “massive support” to the railway project in Tibet. He has warned that construction should be carried out efficiently.
