Specifications - Qinghai-Tibet Heavy Rail Line, China

Key Data
Developer	Government of the Peoples' Republic of China
Opened	Xining to Golmud: 1984
	Golmud to Lhasa: 2006
Route length	Total 1,956km (Xining to Golmud 815km; Golmud to Lhasa 1,142km)
Line speed	120km/h (unfrozen section), 100km/h (frozen section)
Freight capacity	7.5 million tonnes a year
Extensions planned	Lhasa to Shigatse (280km) commencing late 2007, scheduled for completion in 2010. Further extensions to link Shigatse to Zhangmu, Nyingchi to Dali and Shigatse with Yadong
Stations	45 stations are open, with 13 more planned. 38 are unmanned
Rolling stock
Locomotives	GE Transportation NJ2; Qishuyang series DF8CJ 9000
Carriages	361 Bombardier Transportation high-altitude passenger carriages (308 standard cars, 53 special tourist cars)
Special Characteristics
	Links Qinghai province to the Tibetan Autonomous Region
	Over four-fifths of the railway lies above 4,000m and over half of it was built on permafrost
	The carriages have supplementary oxygen because of the high altitude
	Expected to more than double goods movements into and out of Tibet by 2010
	Passenger service to encourage tourism
	Highest rail track in the world and the longest plateau railway
	Direct trains run from Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Xining, and Lanzhou, linking Lhasa to major cities in the Peoples’ Republic of China
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