Although the Qinghai-Tibet Railway is still under construction, the
first locomotive to arrive in Tibet since 1928 started running on
the “roof of the world” Tuesday.
It set off at the Amdo County section of the Qinghai-Tibet
Railway and will be used to transport construction materials for
the massive railway project, said Li Yang, a senior engineer with
the China Railway Construction Corporation.
Weighing 86 tons, the locomotive was first dismantled and then
reassembled in Amdo County after being transported into Tibet in
four trucks, Li said.
The railway construction site in Amdo County, at an elevation of
about 4,704 meters, is one of the highest sections on the
Qinghai-Tibet Railway.
Tibet imported its first two railway cars from India in 1928 for
the Dalai Lama. They were dismantled and then carried into Tibet by
mule.
The 1,956-kilometer-long Qinghai-Tibet Railway, when complete,
will originate in Xining, capital of northwest China’s Qinghai
Province, and end at Lhasa, capital of Tibet.
Construction of the railway began on June 29, 2001, and the
entire project is scheduled for completion in six years.
(Xinhua News Agency March 24, 2004)