China has started construction of the world’s highest railway station at a height of 5,068 metres above sea level on the southern face of the Dangla mountain range in Tibet autonomous region, a report said today.
The station, being built on the strategically important Qinghai-Tibet railway, is believed to be the world’s highest. With a completion date of August 2004, the station is expected to become a tourist attraction, Xinhua news agency reported from Tibet’s capital, Lhasa.
Covering an area of 77,000 square metres, the station will have three lines and will also operate as a railway junction control centre, the report said.
The Dangla station will use environmentally-friendly energy such as solar and wind power, as do the other stations on the Qinghai-Tibet railway, it added.
The Qinghai-Tibet railway originates in Xining, the capital of northwest Qinghai province, and ends at Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, with a length of 1,956 km.
According to the report, once completed, it will be the longest plateau railway with the highest elevation in the world. Construction of the railway began June 29, 2001, and the entire project will take six years to complete.
