Tibet to Build a Grade Separation Transportation Network

Home>>China

Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, December 04, 2001

Tibet to Build a Grade Separation Transportation Network

After peaceful liberation and especially after the democratic reform the modernized transportation in Tibet has gained a high-speed development and up to now the roads open to traffic in the region total 22,500 kilometers, witnessing an initial road-network leading to all parts of Tibet.

During the "Tenth Five Year Plan" period, another investment of RMB 2 billion-yuan will be injected to build the new, renovate and expand the old, airports for developing the air-transportation in Tibet.

With a simultaneous construction of highways, railroad & airways, Tibet, the world Everest is not faraway beyond your reach.

The beginning of the winter saw the renovated section extending from Yangbajain to Lhasa along the Qinghai - Tibet Highway come to a completion six months ahead of the schedule. With an investment of RMB 390 million-yuan the road, stretching 66 kilometers long, is a Grade 2 road, the ever-high grade in Tibetan road history. This indicates the sped-up development of traffic and transportation in Tibet and the newest achievements obtained in the construction of a modernized grade-separation transportation network on the "Roof of the World".

Featuring an area of jagged roads the Tibet in its olden days had actually no road in its true sense. After peaceful liberation and especially after the democratic reform the modernized transportation in Tibet has gained a high-speed development and up to now the roads open to traffic in the region total 22,500 kilometers, witnessing an initial road-network leading to all parts of Tibet. The region has developed two airports for civil use too: Gongga, the one in Lhasa and another Bangda in Qamdo with domestic and international air-routes opened to Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Xi'an, Xining, Shanghai and Kunming and to Hong Kong SAR and Katmandu of Nepal as well. Nevertheless, due to the constraint of its special geographical conditions, inferior bases of traffic and communications the transportation still remains a key factor checking the leaping development of its economy and social progress as a whole. At the ringing-in of the new century the autonomous region has made it clear that during the "Tenth-Five Plan period" a uniform planning and reasonable arrangement must be made to form by and by a clear and safe comprehensive system of transportation with emphasis to be laid on the construction of highways while keeping a harmonious development in aviation, railroad and pipeline transports.

To meet the great expectation of the Tibetan people, the 29th of last June marked the launching into full construction of the Qinghai - Tibet Railway, a grand artery on the highland extending from Golmud in Qinghai to Lhasa. And by the end of last October, it had brought into completion an investment of RMB 770 million-yuan. It is expected to bring to finish an investment of RMB 1 billion-yuan by the yearend. The day is at your fingertip when the train begins to rumble onto the Roof of the World.

The highways are the key construction project in Tibet. During the "Tenth Five Year Plan Period" Tibet will inject in more than RMB 10 billion-yuan for almost 100 project items in line with the conception to build "three longitudinal and two latitudinal thoroughfares of six alleyways" to form a framework of highways in Tibet. When this completed by the end of the "Tenth Five Year Plan" the total mileage of highways opened to traffic in the Tibetan region will reach 27,000 kilometers (not including those simply paved ones). And furthermore, an effort will be made to extend the highway into the Metok County, the last non-highway area in the country. This year has seen a capital fund of RMB 1.7 billion-yuan realized for the highway construction and the yearend is expected to complete an investment of RMB 1.2 billion-yuan in the highway construction, a respective increase of 55 and 70 percent as against that of last year.

During the "Tenth Five Year Plan" period, another investment of RMB 2 billion-yuan will be injected to build the new, renovate and expand the old, airports for developing the air-transportation in Tibet. The construction of the new terminal building at the Gongga Airport in Lhasa was kicked off in the middle of last October and is going to be fulfilled in 2003 as planned. The initial work for the selection, geographical prospecting and environmental protection of the Lhunze Airport has come to an end and the preparatory work for a newly-built airport at Shiquanhe, Gar and the renovation work for Bangda Airport at Qamdo have been put underway right at the moment.

By PD Online Staff Han Rongliang

Tibet Aided to Improve Transportation Conditions

Tibet Rebuilds Highway to Boost Rapid Economic Growth