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‘Roof of the world’ : Tibet’s first Bullet train wonder

Tibetans can now enjoy the area’s mountainous views at high speed for the first time. The 435-kilometer (250-mile) rail line connecting Lhasa with Nyingchi opened on June 25, providing high-speed rail access to all 31 provinces in mainland China. Tibet’s ‘roof of the world’ high-speed train was no easy feat. 90% of the route, which took six years to construct, is over 3,000 meters above sea level. On the Lhasa-Nyingchi line, there are 47 tunnels and 121 bridges, which make up about 75% of the whole route. Included in this is the 525-meter-long Zangmu Railway Bridge, the world’s largest and highest arch bridge.

China State Railway Group spent a staggering RMB 36.6 billion ($5.6 billion) on the construction and operation of the high-speed Fuxing electric train system. As the Fuxing trains travel at high altitudes, they are equipped with automated oxygen supply systems that maintain oxygen levels at a constant of 23.6%- slightly higher than the average 21% found in normal atmospheres. Glass on the train windows has been tempered to resist high UV levels in the region. On the nine-station Lhasa-Nyingchi line, the Fuxing trains run on both internal combustion and electric engines. The railroads use dual-power engines to facilitate smooth traction throughout the 2.5-hour journey, whether on electrified or non-electrified rails. Travelers experience speeds of up to 350 kilometers per hour (217 mph) on many of China’s other lines, but these trains operate at 160 kilometers per hour.

It is part of the Sichuan-Tibet Railroad project, which will eventually connect Chengdu with Lhasa, cutting travel times between the two cities from 48 hours to 13 hours. It is divided into three phases. China opened the Chengdu-Ya’an Railway segment in 2018. Lhasa-Nyingchi is the second segment completed. Ya’an-Nyingchi Railway is expected to be completed by 2030. Tibet’s first electrified railway is the Lhasa-Nyingchi line. It is said to be the highest train route in the world, connecting Xining, Qinghai province, to Lhasa, via the 1,142-kilometer Qinghai-Tibet Railway, launched in 2006. China’s rapidly expanding high-speed network includes the Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway, which runs through disputed territory between India and China.

Nearly 40,000 kilometers of lines link the country’s major megacities. By 2035, the network is expected to reach 70,000 kilometers. As with Japan’s Shinkansen bullet trains in the 1960s, Beijing views its high-speed railway as a symbol of the country’s increasing economic power. Xi Jinping, head of China’s ruling Communist Party, counts high-speed rail as a powerful means for integrating disparate regions with different cultures into the Chinese mainstream, as well as for strengthening social cohesion.

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As part of President Xi Jinping’s grand plan to ‘integrate the vast national market,’ Olivia Cheung, a research fellow at the China Institute at the university’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), told CNN earlier this year. As part of his ‘new development philosophy,’ coordinated development is an essential concept. He envisions linking existing towns with new ones that are being built from the ground up. In Hebei province, about sixty miles southwest of Beijing, Xiong’an New Area is one of the sectors in which Xi takes great pride.

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