Qinghai-Tibet Railway expected to open to traffic in 2007

Witnessing a smooth work for track laying the Tibet section of Qinghai-Tibet Railway project has made a favorable progress into Nagqu County, an important center in northern part of the Tibet Autonomous Region. Up to now, the total length of track laying along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway has covered 618 km, sounding another major breakthrough in the construction

According to a CCTV report the year of 2004 is of strategic importance to the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, in which the track laying is a pivotal work of the railway construction. The first phase of the project this year is at an average altitude of 4,500 m. In order to carry on smoothly the laying of track, engineers from the headquarters of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway set up an additional track-laying base in Anduo, which enable the work of track-laying to be performed from two ends, that is to say, laying tracks simultaneously from Anduo to Lhasa in the south and to Tanggula Mountains down to the north. So far, 301 km of the Qinghai-Tibet railway have been brought to finish, in which Tibet section took up 213 km. Currently, the railway beds, bridges and tunnels have been completed and other work for stations is being carried out systematically

The Qinghai-Tibet Railway runs from the city of Golmud in western Qinghai to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet Autonomous Region, extending a total length of 1,142 km. Kicked off in 2001 the construction work will last for 6 years to complete in 2007, the year for the railway to open to traffic.

Source: People's Daily Online