Departing from Beijing's West Railway Station at 21:30, train T27/8 will arrive in Lhasa in Tibet at 20:58 on the third day, the 4,064-kilometer trip taking 47 hours and 28 minutes, said sources on Monday.

China has set the timetables for the first three pairs of trains from five cities to Lhasa along the world's highest Qinghai-Tibet railway which is due to open for trial operations on July 1.

Among the three pairs of train routes, there are a pair of express trains to run from Beijing to Lhasa, four pairs of express trains between Chengdu (Chongqing) and Lhasa, and two pairs of fast trains between Xining (Lanzhou) and Lhasa.

The T27/8 train, departing from Beijing's West Railway Station to Lhasa, the 4,064-kilometer trip will pass through six cities, including Shijiazhuang, Xi'an, Lanzhou, Xining, Golmud and Nagqu township.

The return trip from Lhasa to Beijing is scheduled to take 32 minutes longer than the outbound trip.

The trip from Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, to Lhasa, with a length of 3,360 kilometers, will take about 48 hours and 10 minutes by the trains T22/23, while the return journey by the train T24/1 will be 48 hours 50 minutes. This train will pass Guangyuan, Baoji, then link to Lanzhou, Xining, Golmud and Nagqu township before it reaches Lhasa. The 3,654-kilometer trip from Chongqing to Lhasa will have eight stops before it arrives in Lhasa after 47 hours and eight minutes. While the trip from Lhasa to Chongqing will take 48 hours and 50 minutes.

Journey from Lanzhou to Lhasa by the train K917/8 will take only 29 hours and 45 minutes to travel 2,188-kilometers.

The journey from Xining in Qinghai province to Lhasa, which is 1,972 kilometers, will be 26 hours and 23 minutes.

Ticket prices for the above-mentioned train routes have also been set.

The world's highest railway, extends 1,956 kilometers from Xining to Lhasa. Some 960 kilometers of its tracks are 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.

(Xinhua News Agency June 27, 2006)