Qinghai–Tibet railway
Railway line in China / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Qinghai–Tibet railway or Qingzang railway (Standard Tibetan: མཚོ་བོད་ལྕགས་ལམ།, mtsho bod lcags lam; simplified Chinese: 青藏铁路; traditional Chinese: 青藏鐵路; pinyin: Qīngzàng Tiělù), is a high-elevation railway line in China between Xining, Qinghai Province, and Lhasa, Tibet.[1] With over 960 km (600 mi) of track being more than 4,000 m (13,123 ft) above sea level, it is the highest railway line in the world.
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Qinghai–Tibet railway མཚོ་བོད་ལྕགས་ལམ། 青藏铁路 | |
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Overview | |
Status | Operational |
Locale | People's Republic of China |
Coordinates | {{33°00′18.50″N 91°38′57.70″E / 33.0051389°N 91.6493611°E}} |
Termini | |
Service | |
Type | Heavy rail |
System | China Railway |
Operator(s) | China Railway Qingzang Group |
History | |
Opened | 1984 (Xining–Nanshankou) 2006 (Nanshankou–Lhasa) |
Technical | |
Line length | 1,956 km (1,215 mi) |
Number of tracks | 2 (Xining–Golmud) 1 (Golmud–Lhasa) |
Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge |
Electrification | Overhead catenary 25kV 50Hz (Xining–Golmud) |
Operating speed | 160 km/h (99 mph) (Xining–Golmud) 100 km/h (62 mph) (Golmud–Lhasa) |
Construction began on the 815 km (506 mi) section between Xining and Golmud in 1958 and was completed in 1984;[2] the remaining 1,142 km (710 mi) from Golmud to Lhasa started construction in 2001 and opened in 2006,[3][4] making it the first railway line in Tibet.[5] Passenger trains run from Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Xining, and Lanzhou, and can carry between 800 and 1,000 passengers during peak season.[6][7]
In addition to it being the world's highest railway, the line is also the holder of numerous other records; the line includes the Tanggula Pass, the highest point on a railway in the world at 5,072 m (16,640 ft) above sea level, and Tanggula railway station at 5,068 m (16,627 ft) is the world's highest railway station. The 1,338 m (4,390 ft) long Fenghuoshan tunnel is the highest rail tunnel in the world at 4,905 m (16,093 ft) above sea level.[8]
In 2022, the Chinese government announce plans for the line to be electrified. Construction started in June 2022 and is expected to take three years, at a total cost of 14.84 billion yuan.[9][10]