China to complete strategic Lhasa-Shigatse railway this year

TibetanReview:  China said Jan 21 that it was on course to finish the laying of tracks for its 253-kilometre Lhasa-Shigatse railway, an extension of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, and will complete the whole project within this year. The “national key project” completed 82.3 kilometres of track laying, representing 27.83 percent of the total construction, by Dec 2012, reported China’s online Tibet news service eng.tibet.cn Jan 21.

Much of the track laying involves building bridges and tunnels and the report said the completed work included 61,520 metres of tunnels, accounting for 85.13 percent of the total.

The train service, being built at a preliminary cost of 13.3 billion yuan (about $2.14 billion), will transport more than 8.3 million tons of goods per year, the report said. The completed work has taken up 7.604 billion yuan (about $1.22 billion) of the total projected cost, it added.

The high altitude train service will have 13 stations and will pass through South Lhasa, Qushui (Tibetan: Chushur) County and Nyemo County at an expected speed of more than 120 km/h, the report said.