Construction of Tibetan Railway Well Under Way

Foundations have already been laid for a 147-kilometer stretch of railway extending from Gormo in northwest China's Qinghai province to Lhasa in Tibet, Minister of Railway Fu Zhihuan said Wednesday.

He told a press conference held by the Information Office of the State Council that construction of the 1,142-kilometer railway, known as the railway with the highest altitude in the world, has been going smoothly since construction began on June 29.

The foundation of the section between Gormo and Wangkun in Qinghai is completed, with the laying of rails to begin next year,Fu said.

The government has already spent 770 million yuan on the project, which involves a total investment of 26.2 billion yuan.

Fu said the construction of 55 bridges and three tunnels has already begun along the railway route, adding that 8.8 million cubic meters of earth work has been completed. The length of completed bridges, culverts and tunnels totals 5,900 meters, 6,000 meters and 500 meters, respectively.

The construction of the railway is scheduled to be completed in six years. According to Vice Minister of Railway Sun Yongfu, by 2010, the railway will carry 2.1 million tons of cargo into Tibet and 800,000 tons out of it every year. In addition, 4-8 pairs of passenger trains will run between Lhasa and Gormo every day.

Zhang Guobao, vice minister in charge of the State Development Planning Commission, told the press conference that the central government of China will shoulder all the cost of building the Qinghai-Tibet railway. He said the government does not plan to issue any bonds to fund the construction project.

Wang Yuqing, deputy director of the State Environment Protection Administration (SEPA), said at the press conference that more than 1.2 billion yuan will be spent on environment protection projects along the railway route, much more than in other similar projects.

In order to minimize the impact of the construction project on the fragile ecological environment in Tibet, the designers have chosen longer routes to circle natural reserves, thus increasing the cost of construction.






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