A: On February 8, the State Council approved the plan to construct the Qinghai-Tibet
Railway.
Construction of the Qinghai-Tibet railway has been don the Central
Government agenda since the 1950s. The First Surveying and Designing Institute
of the Ministry of Railways began carrying out planning of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway
in 1956. in May 1974, building of the Xining-Golmud section of the Qinghai-Tibet
Railway started, and was completed in May 1984, but building of the Golmud-Lhasa
section failed to commence.
Since completion, the Xining-Golmud section has
played an important role in the development of Tibet. Today, over 85 percent of
materials are transported into and 90 percent out of Tibet through Golmud.
China's railway networks are mainly concentrated in the East and Northeast. Although
Tibet occupies one eighth of China's total area, it has no railways. This has
greatly restricted the economic development of Tibet. These days, long-distance
highway transportation can no longer meet the needs of economic and social development.
In order to comply with the needs of western development, construction of a railway
in Tibet is imperative. The Qinghai-Tibet Railway is the longest and highest plateau
railway in the world. It is 1,925 kilometers long, with 960 kilometers at 4,000
meters above sea level. The railway's highest point, the Tanggula Mountain Pass,
is 5,072 meters above sea level.
apart from the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, three
other railways are also planned, namely the Gansu-Tibet, the Yunnan-Tibet, and
the Sichuan-Tibet Railways. Construction conditions for the Qinghai-Tibet Railway
are more advantageous, in terms of its total length, the length and density of
bridges and tunnels along the way, the time limit of the project, and the construction
conditions, than the other railways. It will take only six years to complete the
Qinghai-Tibet Railway, while the time estimated for construction of the other
three railways is over 30 years each.
The advent of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway
will greatly boost resource exploitation, thereby pushing forward Tibet's economic
development, while tourism and cultural exchange between Tibet and the interior
and foreign countries will also be greatly enhanced. |
