Railways connecting Tibet with Mainland China
At present, it is planned to build five railways from mailand China to Tibet: the Tibet Railway, the Sichuan-Tibet Railway, the Yunnan-Tibet Railway, the Gansu-Tibet Railway and the Xinjiang-Tibet Railway. The Qinghai-Tibet Railway is already in operation. It is the first first railway to Tibet, which starts from Xining City in Qinghai Province, passing through Golmud City, Kunlun Mountain Pass, and Tuotuo River, crossing the Tanggula Pass and then entering Anduo, Naqu, Dangxiong, Yangbajing and Lhasa in the Tibet Autonomous Region. The Qinghai-Tibet Railway, with a total length of 1,956 kilometers, was completed and opened to traffic on July 1, 2006. On August 16, 2014, the extension line of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway which is called Lari railway also started operating.
The second is the Sichuan-Tibet Railway which is under construction. It starts from Chengdu South Station and passes through Meishan, Ya'an, Kangding, Yajiang, Litang, Changdu, Nyingchi, Shannan and other places in Tibet. It ends in Lhasa and the total length of it is 1,629 kilometers. It will only take only 13 hours to drive from Chengdu, Chongqing, Xi'an and other places to Lhasa.
The Sichuan-Tibet Railway, in parallel with the 318 National Highway, which is called the most beautiful landscape avenue in China, is also known as the most beautiful railway route in China. It will pass through countless stunning places, with the famous Sichuan section of Kangding Paoma Moutain/Mugecuo/Yajiageng, Snow capped Gongga Mountain, Xinduqiao, Baiyu, Haizi Moutain, Sister Lake, Daocheng Yading and Batang Tsopu Valley.
The third is the Yunnan-Tibet Railway, which is a railway from Kunming, Yunnan to Lhasa, Tibet. It is an important route to Tibet. It consists of Kunming-Guangzhou Railway, Chuxiong-Dali Railway, Dali-Lijiang Railway, Lijiang-Xianggelila Railway, Xianggelila-Nyingchi Railway and Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway. TheYunnan-Tibet line has the lowest average elevation among the other railway routes to Tibet.
The forth is the Gansu-Tibet Railway, which refers to the railway from Lanzhou, Gansu to Lhasa, Tibet. The Gansu-Tibet Railway started in Lanzhou, Gansu, and passed through the railway line of Guoluo Zhou-Sichuan Shiqu County-Yushu Prefecture. It ends in Lhasa. The Gansu-Tibet Railway has been included in the National Medium & Long-Term Railway Network Plan.
The fifth is the New Tibet Railway, including the Riye Railway and the Larri Railway. It is an important traffic artery connecting Xinjiang and Tibet. It starts from Yecheng in Xinjiang and it goes to the south to Shigatse and Lhasa in Tibet. It is an important part of the Xinjiang Railway and the Tibet Railway Network. Currently, the route is still in the planning and survey stages. In the future, the railway will play an important role in promoting economic development and communication between the two places.
