(TibetanReview.net, Nov05, 2014) – China said Nov 4 that it will start building the Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway in occupied Tibet in Dec 2014 with an investment of over 36 billion yuan (about US$ 6 billion). The construction will be completed within seven years, reported China’s online Tibet news service eng.tibet.cn Nov 4, citing the official Xinhua news agency.
The Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway line will be 433-km long, including 402 km to be newly built. It will have 34 stations, including nine major ones, and is designed to travel at an average speed of 160 km per hour, the report said.
Although described in different Chinese media reports as Lhasa-Nyingchi (Tibetan: Nyingtri) or Xigaze (Shigatse)-Nyingchi line, it will actually be Xierong-Nyingchi line, with Xierong being a stop on the Lhasa-Xigaze line located 32 km from Lhasa.
The report said that once completed, it will take less than one hour to travel from Lhasa to Lhoka Prefecture, and two hours to reach Nyingchi Prefecture.
The report said that the Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway will connect not only the tourist resources along the line, but also famous scenic locations such as Jiuzhaigou Valley, Yellow Dragon Scenic Area, and Qinghai Lake, as well as tourist cities such as Chengdu, Dali, and Lijiang, through a railway network encompassing the Chengdu-Nyingchi Railway, Yunnan-Tibet Railway, Qinghai-Tibet Railway, and Lhasa-Shigatse Railway.