BEIJING – Chinese Railways Minister Liu Zhijun has said the first-ever railway link to the remote Himalayan region of Tibet should be first-class and safe.
During an inspection tour of the Qinghai-Tibet railway construction site, Liu said to build a first-class railway, in which the running-time must be kept to a minimum, equipment must be well-maintained and highly automatic facilities should be adopted.
Accompanied by a group of officials and experts, Liu assessed construction work and conducted field research on three major hurdles in construction: building on permafrost, health safety on the plateau and the fragile ecosystem, Xinhua news agency reported.
The minister urged the workers to work towards assuring the safety of the railway, noting that bridges should be constructed to serve as routes in the case of technical uncertainties.
The 1,956-kilometre railway starts in Xining, capital of Qinghai province in the east and ends in Lhasa, capital of Tibet.
A 960-kilometre section of the railway is over 4,000 metres above sea level, with the highest being at an altitude of 5,072 metres.
When completed, the Qinghai-Tibet railway would offer easy access to Tibet, which is otherwise connected by mountainous roads which is time consuming and hazardous.
