The schedule has been set for the first five trains to Tibet via
the new Qinghai-Tibet railway which will begin trial operations on
July 1, an official with the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Company said
Friday.
The first five trains will depart from Beijing, Chengdu, capital
of southwest China's Sichuan Province, Xining, capital of the
northwestern Qinghai Province, Shanghai and Guangzhou,
capital of the southern Guangdong Province, according to Mao Baocheng,
deputy general manager of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Company.
Trains bound for Tibet will depart daily from Beijing, Chengdu
and Xining. There will be departures from Shanghai and Guangzhou
every other day, Ma added.
Tickets for the first trains are sold out.
The 1,956-kilometer-long Qinghai-Tibet railway is the world's
highest and longest plateau railroad and also the first railway
connecting the Tibet Autonomous Region with other parts of
China.
Some 960 kilometers of its track are located 4,000 meters above
sea level and the highest point is 5,072 meters, at least 200
meters higher than the Peruvian railway in the Andes, which was
formerly the world's highest altitude railway.
The railway will have two oxygen-enrichment systems on trains to
combat the effects of altitude sickness.
The oxygen level in the carriages will be about 85 percent of
that in low-lying plain areas, said Ma, adding that oxygen masks
will also be installed near seats for passengers in case they are
affected by the high altitude.
Zhang Fuhua, an official with the Qinghai tourism
administration, expects an additional 800,000 travelers will visit
Tibet with the operation of the Qinghai-Tibet railway.
Qinghai is working fast to build its tourism infrastructure so
it can better cope with the increase in tourists, Zhang said.
China's Qinghai-Tibet railway will begin trial operation on July
1 this year, and it has attracted large numbers of travelers to go
sightseeing in Tibet.
To date, train tickets for the six lines to Tibet, including
from Beijing to Lhasa, have been booked up by travel agencies,
according to railway sources.
The 1,142-kilometer-long Qinghai-Tibet railway, which runs
across the frozen tundra of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau from Golmud
of Qinghai to Lhasa, is the first railway connecting the Tibet
Autonomous Region with other parts of China.
With the trial operation of passenger trains, tourists will find
it more convenient to travel to Tibet, since the railway is
comparatively low-cost and safer than other transport means, said
Ma Baocheng, deputy general manager of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway
Company.
For travelers to have sufficient time to enjoy the natural
beauty on the plateau, the passenger trains will depart in the
morning and arrive in the evening.
Meanwhile, this world's highest and longest plateau railroad
will have two oxygen supply systems on trains to combat the effects
of altitude sickness on passengers.
Oxygen will come from a system like central air-conditioning on
trains, which can ensure the oxygen content in carriages at about
85 percent of that in plain areas, said Ma, adding that oxygen
masks will also be installed near seats for passengers to use
incase they still feel sick.
About 800,000 more travelers will visit Tibet by way of Qinghai
with the operation of the Qinghai-Tibet railway, said Zhang Fuhua,
an official with the Qinghai tourism administration.
Qinghai is making efforts to speed up the tourism infrastructure
construction to cope with the increase of tourists, Zhang said.
(Xinhua News Agency May 6, 2006)