TibetRailwatch:6 RoutesPlanned [Archive]

View Full Version : TibetRailwatch:6 RoutesPlanned

DR.WANGEMANN

15-03-05, 02:41 AM

Dear Forum users,

the new line from the present terminus at Nanshankou to Lhasa will be one of the most spectecular lines in the world,first due to the difficulties in construction and second by the heights reached by this line.By checking various sources during the last months I'm able now to give a first list of the most important bridges,passing loops,stations and tunnels.The line will be opened for test runs on the 1st of July 2006.The given list might be not accurate as the different sources show different names,but I do believe this should be the first step to show how it will be in the future.
The kilometres of this line start in Xining on the part of the line which is in use for several years,the former terminus was Nanshankou south of Geermu(Golmud).For all given names the Chinese name is given first,and where known also the Tibetian name and different known names:
845.0 Nanshankou station 3080 Meter
869.0 Ganlong(Donglung) passing loop 3309 Meter
X Kunlunqiao passing loop 3385 Meter
905.0 Nachitai(Naij Tal) station 3575 Meter
Sanchahe Bridge 690 Meter,52 Meter high
X Yeniugou passing loop
927.0 Xiaonanchuan passing loop 3832 Meter
947.0 Yuzhufeng passing loop 4159 Meter
965.0 Wangkun(Wonkhu) station 4525 Meter
Pass Kunlunshan 4772 Meter
Kunlunshan Tunnel 1686 Meter
1003.0 Budongquan station 4611 Meter
X Bala passing loop 4552 Meter
Chumaerhe Bridge(Qumar He Bridge)332 Meter
1050.0 Chumaerhe(Qumar Heyan) passing loop 4495 Meter
X Qier(Mugsei Soglam) passing loop 4586 Meter
1094.0 Wudaoling(Wutaolan) station 4636 Meter
Pass Kekexilishan(Hoh-Xil) 4743 Meter
1131.0 Xiushuihe(Luma Chu) passing loop 4570 Meter
Pass Fenghuoshanyueling(Fung-Ho) 4905 Meter
Fenghuoshan Tunnel 1338 Meter
X Erdaogou(Artao-lung) passing loop
1167.0 Jiangkedong passing loop 4778 Meter
1190.0 Riexiongqu passing loop 4584 Meter
1236.0 Tuotouhe(Togtan Heyan) station 4557 Meter
Tuotuohe Bridge 653 Meter(Chang Jiang River)
Pass Kaixinling 4760 Meter
1278.0 Tongtianhe(Zhi Qu) passing loop 4602 Meter
Tongtianhe Bridge (Zhi Qu Bridge) 670 Meter
1333.0 Yanshiping station 4712 Meter
X Wenquan passing loop
X Buge passing loop
1421.0 Tanggula(Thangla) passing loop 5068 Meter
Pass Tanggulashan(Thang-la) 5072 Meter!
1461.0 Zhajiacangbu passing loop 4886 Meter
1501.0 Touju(U-nyok-Chu) passing loop 4890 Meter
X Xiuma passing loop 4852 Meter
Pass Touerjiushan(Thoe-Gyu-La) 4940 Meter
1526.0 Anduo(Amdo Dzong) station 4703 Meter
1567.0 Couneihu passing loop 4594 Meter
1614.0 Diwuma(Dongqen) passing loop 4585 Meter
1652.0 Gangxiu(Gacha) passing loop 4646 Meter
1671.0 Naqu(Nagqu,Nagchu) station 4541 Meter
1711.0 Tuoru(Yuru) passing loop 4578 Meter
X Songxiong passing loop 4699 Meter
Pass Songxiongling 4770 Meter
1766.0 Gulu station 4673 Meter
X Sangli(Sulu) passing loop 4550 Meter
Pass Jiuzina 4632 Meter
1814.0 Wumatang(U-ma Thang) passing loop 4502 Meter
Barilang Bridge 592 Meter
1848.0 Dongxiong(Damxung,Damchung) station 4293 Meter
X Ningzhong passing loop 4308 Meter
1884.0 Daqiongguo(Dhachu-go) passing loop 4327 Meter
Pass Naduola or Yangbaling 4603 Meter
1922.0 Yangbajing(Yangpachen) station 4305 Meter
Yangbaling 2 Tunnel(Yangbajain 2 Tunnel) 1720 Meter
Yangbaling 1 Tunnel(Yangbajain 1 Tunnel) 3345 Meter
1954.0 Maxiang station 3924 Meter
X Saiqu(Zechu) station 3818 Meter
Zaoerfeng Tunnel 411 Meter
1994.0 Lasa Xi(Lhasa Xi) station 3662 Meter
Lasahe Bridge 630 Meter
2005.0 Lasa Shi(Lhasa Shi) station 3641 Meter
The line ends at Km 2005.9
There is a branch line from Lasa Xi(Lhasa Xi)to the east,not crossing the Lasahe(Lhasa River),to the station Lasa Nan(Lhasa Nan)at 3628 Meter!
I do hope that you'll like this list,as the information for this line is very difficult to get.There are more than the mentioned 5 tunnels,at least 7 tunnels are mentioned in the various sources.Also more bridges do exist,but only these mentioned are known with their names yet!
All the best from Berlin from
Volker

ncr

18-03-05, 02:23 PM

Cool!

I also heard about the construction of this line some (long) time ago......
Great to hear it's nearing completion. Sadly, the death toll among the workers can be expected to be substantial... :(
(Though you'll find even less information about that aspect than about the stations, bridges and tunnels!)

So, it seems they will have to use special pressurized railcars under these extreme conditions.....

By the way, does anyone know what is the world's highest railway line so far? Probably the one between Northern Chile and Bolivia (Arica-La Paz)? Once saw a docu about that one, it reaches 4400 m or something in that range.

DR.WANGEMANN

18-03-05, 07:53 PM

Dear Khun ncr,

you're interested in the so far(up to the completation of the Qing-Zang-Line)highest railway lines of the world.Here is the requested list,which includes all lines higher than 3000 meter:
SUMMIT RAILWAY GAUGE ALTITUDE

La Cima Peru Central, standard 4818m
Morococha Branch
Condor Bolivian National, metre 4787m
Potosi Branch
Galera Tunnel Peru Central standard 4781m
Caja Real Yauricocha,Peru standard 4602m
Chaucha Yauricocha,Peru standard 4564m
Km 41 Yauricocha,Peru standard 4538m
Chorrilos Argentine Railways metre 4475m
(North Transandine)
Crucero Alto Southern of Peru standard 4470m
Yuma Bolivian National metre 4401m
Alcacocha Cerro de Pasco standard 4385m
La Raya Southern of Peru standard 4314m
Pike's Peak Manitou and Pike's standard 4302m
Peak,Colorado,U.S.A.
Jeneral Lagos Bolivian National metre 4257m
La Cima Cerro de Pasco,Peru standard 4214m
Cuesta Colorado Bolivian National metre 4137m
El Alto Guaqui-La Paz metre 4106m
Escoriani Bolivian National metre 4057m
Between Potosi Bolivian National metre 4033m
and Sucre
Comanche Bolivian National metre 4031m
Kenko Bolivian National metre 4004m
Munano Argentine Railways metre 4000m
(North Transandine)
Ascotan Bolivian National metre 3959m
Socompa Antofagasta-Salta metre 3908m
(Argentina)
Tres Cruces Argentine Railways metre 3693m
Urbina Guyaquil-Quito 1067mm 3609m
(Ecuador)
Pumahuasi Argentine Railways metre 3559m
Climax Spur Burlington Northern standard 3472m
Jungfraujoch Jungfrau,Switzerland metre 3454m
Fremont Pass Burlington Northern standard 3450m
U.S.A.
Villazon Villazon-Atocha metre 3447m
(Bolivian National)
Iturbe Argentine Railways metre 3343m
La Cumbre Chilean Transandine metre 3191m
Tennessee Pass Denver and Rio Grande standard 3116m
Tunnel Western,Colorado,U.S.A.
Monarch Denver and Rio Grande standard 3093m
Western,Colorado,U.S.A.
Gornergrat Gornergrat,Swutzerland metre 3088m
La Cima National Railways of standard 3054m
Mexico
Cumbres Pass Cumbres and Toltec 914mm 3053m
Scenic Railroad,Colorado,
U.S.A.
El Oro National Railways of standard 3041m
Mexico
HIGHEST RAILWAYS OF ASIA:
Ghoom North Eastern,India 610mm 2258m
Asit Turkish State Railway standard 2256m
Kan Mehtarzai Pakistan 762mm 2222m
Nilgiri Hills Nilgiri,India metre 2217m
Nurabad Iran State (Trans standard 2217m
Iranian,southern
section)
Gaduk Iran State(Trans standard 2112m
Iranian,northern
section)
Shelabagh Pakistan 1676mm 1950m
Pattipola Sri Lankan 1676mm 1898m
Government
Near Zebdani Syria 1050mm 1794m
Kolpore Pakistan 1676mm 1791m
Between Beijing China standard 1585m
and Suiyuan
Taurus Turkish State Railway standard 1494m
Between Beirut Lebanon State Railway 1050mm 1487m
and Zahle
Kalaw Union of Myanmar metre 1405m
Railways
Maan Hedjaz 1050mm 1128m
I do hope that the list will answer all your questions.
With best wishes from Berlin from

Volker

ncr

19-03-05, 11:14 AM

I do hope that the list will answer all your questions.
With best wishes from Berlin from

VolkerUff, mehr als das..............
Besten Dank aus Bangkok!

(Never ask a rail freak or you might get drowned in information! ;) )

One more question, though: how about Thailand? What is the highest elevation of the SRT network? Is that the Khun Tan Tunnel? How many meters ASL? (I am sure you know. In the unlikely case you don't, there's always Khun Wisarut....)

DR.WANGEMANN

20-03-05, 12:49 AM

Dear Khun ncr,

just a short list about the highest railway stations in Thailand:
HIGHEST STATIONS BY ALTITUDE
1)Khun Tan 572.58m Km 683.14 Northern Line
2)Tha Chomphu 424.85m Km 691.89 Northern Line
3)Pang Puai 395.17m Km 591.07 Northern Line
4)Pang Asok 373.18m Km 165.19 Northeastern Line
5)Bandai Ma 361.17m Km 173.64 Northeastern Line

HIGHEST STATIONS BY LINES:
1)Khun Tan 572.58m Km 683.14 Northern Line
2)Khok Makok 5.70m Km 131.00 Eastern Line
3)Pang Asok 373.18m Km 165.19 Northeastern Line
4)Ban Makha 167.20m Km 308.20 Northeastern Line(Nong Khai
Branch)
5)Nam Tok 114.99 Km 194.24 Southern Line(Nam Tok Branch
6)Chong Khao 98.68m Km 767.78 Southern Line
Of course the new stop Nam Tok Sai Yok Noi on the Southern Line Nam Tok Branch is higher than Nam Tok,but I haven't got the exact altitude yet.Also there might be a higher station on the Chachoengsao Junction-Sattahip Branch of the Eastern Line,but the same as to Nam Tok Sai Yok Noi applies to that unknown station.Nevertheless I do hope that list will help you to answer some of your burning questions.Please don't hesitate to ask if you want to get more information.
With best wishes from Berlin from

Volker

ncr

20-03-05, 05:46 PM

Of course the new stop Nam Tok Sai Yok Noi on the Southern Line Nam Tok Branch is higher than Nam Tok,but I haven't got the exact altitude yet.Also there might be a higher station on the Chachoengsao Junction-Sattahip Branch of the Eastern Line,but the same as to Nam Tok Sai Yok Noi applies to that unknown station.That's OK, but how about the Kaeng Khoi-Bua Yai shortcut of the Northeastern Line? I suppose Pang Asok is on the Kaeng Khoi-Khorat section? What's the highest station of the shortcut - should also be 300+ or at least 200+ m.....?

DR.WANGEMANN

21-03-05, 04:58 PM

Dear Khun ncr,

sorry I have no information about the heights on the Kaeng Khoi Junction-Bua Yai Junction short cut,although I've done the line before the opening of the Pa Sak Jolasid Dam section.Of course there might be a station or even more stations in between the 200 and 300 metres section.So maybe there are some questions for Khun Wisarut or the Thai Railfans still to be answered:
1)Altidude of Nam Tok Sai Yok Noi
2)Highest station on the Chachoengsao Junction-Sattahip branch
3)Highest station on the Kaeng Khoi Junction-Bua Yai Junction
branch
You're absolutely right that Pang Asok is on the main line to Ubon Ratchathani.
All the best from Berlin from

Volker

ncr

22-03-05, 03:59 PM

A Chinese railway map showing the Tibet line is here (http://www.nordling.nu/schaefer/chinamap.gif ) (thanks to GWR for the link).

I first had the notion it runs roughly in East-West direction, but the map shows it's actually NNE-SSW! (The former is probably simply not possible because of the direction of the enormous Himalayan mountain chains in Southwest China - which is not to say that the chosen route doesn't have high enough mountains to overcome..... :p )

ncr

14-04-05, 03:11 AM

I made a profile (http://tinypic.com/4gnam9) of the Tibet Line for fun, using Dr. Volker's elevation values ..... (Or maybe this format (http://tinypic.com/4gnapy) is better?)

Note: Missing rail kms for the passes and some stations were interpolated by taking the average of the nearest stations.

Yappofloyd

15-04-05, 09:31 PM

Khun ncr, the profiles look good although I think the first one gives a better sense of the elevations involved.

I also have linked a couple of articles on the rolling (http://www.railgaz.co.uk/2005/053-hl01.asp) stock (http://www.railjournal.com/latenews_archive.html) (see 28 Feb).

From a railway engineering point of view this project is very interesting given the challenges. From a human rights point of view, both in terms of the worker who have died and the (http://www.atc.org.au/news/news/20030901_ictreport.html) Tibetans, the whole project is a disaster. A NGO report (http://www.savetibet.org/news/pressreleases/pressrelease.php?id=162) completed in Sept. 2003 found that more money will be spent on the railway than has been spent on health and education in the last 50yrs! Some sat shots of the pop. growth in the railway corridorhere (http://www.savetibet.org/documents/pdfs/GolmudLhasaRailwayBooklet.pdf).

Photo (http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-03/08/content_422679.htm) in this China Daily article.

Yappofloyd

14-07-05, 03:13 PM

Interesting article in Sydney Morning Herald from 05/05/05.

Beijing will be able to tighten its grip on the often troublesome distant territory, writes Erling Ho.

When the partly constructed railway to Tibet reached the northern bank of the Tuotuohe River, the headstream of the Yangtze River, a TV Tibet reporter was there to cover the event. "We lack oxygen, but we don't lack the right stuff," an engineer with a pin on his jacket reading "Communist vanguard project", proudly told the reporter.

The controversial 1118-kilometre rail line from the garrison town of Golmud in Qinghai province to Tibet's capital, Lhasa, is scheduled for completion in 2007 at an official cost of 26.2 billion yuan ($4 billion). The complex project will reduce Tibet's isolation and, more importantly, allow Beijing to tighten its annexation of the territory.

Almost 800 kilometres of the line runs more than 4500 metres above sea level, and 550 kilometres of it cross permanently frozen earth, presenting the project's engineers with a formidable challenge. The journey from Beijing to Lhasa - in carriages pressurised like aircraft due to the high altitude - will take 48 hours.

Full Article here (http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=9745&t=1&c=1)

GWR

02-08-05, 01:59 AM

This article seems to be a watered-down version of an article found in Aug 05 New Internationalist magazine and credited to Erling Hoh, a freelance Stockholm writer who specialises in China articles.

Yappofloyd

26-08-05, 01:50 AM

BBC TV World News ran a report on the project that I watched last night here in Darfur saying that it was only a year from completion. The story showed a nearly completed bridge of a few hundred metres at about 4km elevation. Unfortunately, I didn't get the name of the bridge to check with Khun Dr Wangemanns' comprehensive list.

Yappofloyd

09-09-05, 05:24 PM

A railroad marvel conquers China's terrain By Howard W. French The New York Times FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2005

GOLMUD, China: By the time the great railroad reaches this town from the east, it has already traversed more than half of China, past the high desert of Qinghai, around one of the world's great salt lakes, through the arid fastness of Gansu, and then over and around mountain ranges arrayed like endless sets of waves all the way to Beijing. But the biggest challenges lie in another direction altogether, when the line heads south from here for an 1,100-kilometer, or 685-mile, run to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, over what is often called the roof of the world.

For long stretches the railway, which is fast nearing completion, will operate at altitudes higher than many small planes can fly, huffing and puffing far above the fragrant mists that roll down the Himalayan slopes. Indeed, the train, whose engines will need turbochargers to get enough oxygen into them to run, will often soar above the clouds. One day soon, perhaps as early as next year, with its special pressurized cars, this marvel will make its maiden voyage on its final southward route, chugging across permanently frozen terrain and making stops along the way at stations like Tangula Shankou, which at 5,070 meters, or 16,640 feet, will be the world's highest. For those bored by the scenery, or perhaps just dizzy, there will be other diversions: First-class accommodations include health spas and fancy restaurants.

When China's central government embarked on the $3.1 billion project in 2001, it set aside $240 million of that sum, or 8 percent of the total, for environmental protection. When objections arose about plans to build a station within the Gulu Wetlands, in Tibet, a pristine breeding ground for black-neck cranes and yellow ducks, 8 hectares, or 20 acres, of man-made wetlands were created around the perimeter of the original preserve to make up for land lost to bridges. Yang Xin, a prominent environmentalist in Qinghai Province, called the project one of "the most caring" he had ever seen. "We proposed detailed measures on protecting migrating Tibetan antelopes in the morning, and to our surprise we got the government's answer back that very afternoon, less than 3 hours, later," Yang said.

One might expect a country that is pulling off one of the world's great engineering feats to be eager to show off its handiwork. If so, no one has told the Railway Ministry, which for a full year refused to answer a reporter's queries by telephone and fax to visit the new line and witness its construction. From the evidence, no one told the local police in Golmud, either. Normally eager taxi drivers in this pokey frontier town, not far removed from the dusty backdrops of American westerns, except for its 9,100-foot altitude, must not have been told, either. They quickly waved off a foreigner, saying they would be arrested if they took him down the highway south that shades the new railway line. The local police, too, were apparently left out of the loop.

"I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do to help you," said a supervisor at the city's Public Security Bureau, when an outsider asked for a pass so he could drive into the Kunlun mountains, toward Tibet. Another officer hinted darkly that the foreigner was breaking the law just by being in Golmud. What could explain such reticence to show off this marvel of railway building, except to tightly controlled groups of outsiders? The events of the week in Lhasa, where Beijing had been celebrating the 40th anniversary of what it calls the Tibetan Autonomous Region, offered one clue. China's state-controlled press hailed the event with editorials that said things like "Tibetans bask in the joy of a bright tomorrow."

A Foreign Ministry spokesman praised what he called Tibet's "democratic reforms," saying that in the past, the people of the province had labored under a "dark serf system." Comments by the man leading the celebrations seemed by themselves sufficient contradiction, however, of the province's autonomy. Jia Qinglin, the third-ranked figure in the Communist Party, hailed China's army for having crushed an uprising in Tibet in 1959 and rioting in 1989 by Tibetans who wish for independence, or at least religious and political freedoms for the province, which was seized by China in 1951.

Many have since all but given up on dreams of independence, including the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, who lives in exile in India. But they still hope for a modicum of genuine autonomy, something many believe the new railroad will make it even more difficult to attain. By some estimates, the new train will carry as many as 900,000 people into the province each year, with the newcomers overwhelmingly consisting of members of China's Han majority, many of whom will opt to stay. The yawning gap between rich and poor seen almost everywhere in China is perhaps greatest in Tibet, where almost all of the rich are Han settlers. The poor and powerless, meanwhile, are almost exclusively Tibetan.

Tibetans say the completion of a highway to the province from here a few years ago has dramatically increased Han migration into their homeland, with consequences both for the environment and for Tibetan language and culture. The train, they worry, will bring even more Han, and make the deployment of Chinese troops there all the easier. "The Han population is rising, and the Tibetan language, our mother language, is losing its position among our people," said a Tibetan teacher who fled to India in January after being arrested several times for his views. "The road-building jobs and the construction jobs are not open to Tibetans, and young Tibetan girls are turning to prostitution."

If the Chinese wish to help Tibet, said the man, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals against his family back home, "they should stop the immigration and give the opportunities to local people so they can improve their lives, and we can protect our culture."

ncr

16-10-05, 09:27 PM

From People's Daily Online:

"Tibet's regional capital basked in glory as merrymaking crowds of railway builders, officials and ordinary citizens hailed in Tibetan and Mandarin the completion of the railway that is soon to become a more efficient and affordable means of transportation."
(quote from the last article linked below)

Some Chinese government propaganda from this year, with some interesting facts nevertheless. Tracklaying has just been finished as of October 2005.

Qinghai-Tibet Railway to test run next July (March 2005)
http://english1.peopledaily.com.cn/200503/07/eng20050307_175890.html

Rail-laying of Qinghai-Tibet Railway restarts (with 3 pics) (March 2005)
http://english1.peopledaily.com.cn/200503/10/eng20050310_176280.html

Qinghai-Tibet railway project comes into the suburbs of Lhasa (with 3 pics) (April 2005)
http://english1.peopledaily.com.cn/200504/04/eng20050404_179308.html

Track-laying to be completed this year at Qinghai-Tibet Railway (with 3 pics) (April 2005)
http://english1.peopledaily.com.cn/200504/14/eng20050414_180969.html#

An utterly new technology applied along Qinghai-Tibet Railway [funny headline, that; and the article is as well] (April 2005)
http://english1.peopledaily.com.cn/200504/13/eng20050413_180891.html

Landmark bridge on Qinghai-Tibet Rail completed (May 2005)
http://english1.peopledaily.com.cn/200505/14/eng20050514_184983.html

And the latest news -

Leaders hail construction of Qinghai-Tibet railway [did you expect anything else?] (October 2005)
http://english1.peopledaily.com.cn/200510/16/eng20051016_214564.html

China finishes building world's highest railway to Tibet (October 2005)
http://english1.peopledaily.com.cn/200510/15/eng20051015_214513.html

They seem to be on track (literally) for starting the test runs coming July.
Maybe the most interesting sentence of all:

"In five years, the railway will stretch further into Tibet, extending from Lhasa to Xigaze and Nyingchi, according to the ministry."

Yappofloyd

30-06-06, 08:40 PM

I think that I'd would take the 'soft sleeper' option! Let's see if predictions of increased migration into Tibet become true.

It's the end of the line on top of the world June 30, 2006 The Age

CHINA unveils its latest dazzling engineering feat on Sunday — the 30 billion yuan ($A5 billion) Qinghai-Tibet railway, the world's highest. The railway will finally link Beijing to Tibet's capital, Lhasa, in just under 48 hours.

For more than 50 years, the railway line from Beijing ended at Golmud, an ancient camel caravan stop in central Qinghai province, now another anonymous Chinese city.But Chinese leaders have long dreamt of building a railway across the Roof of the World. Rail and engineering experts from the rest of world doubted it could be done. Many believed the challenges of a project up to 5000 metres above sea level across hundreds of kilometres of permanently frozen earth in some of the most isolated and rugged terrain were too hard.

From Golmud, the new track runs 1140 kilometres through seemingly endless swathes of grasslands or tundra on Qinghai's 5000-metre-high plateau along dazzling azure lakes, and through the fabled Kunlun Mountains down to Lhasa, linking Tibet to China's extensive rail network. With most of the new line above 4000 metres, with the highest point at 5072 metres, officials say the Qinghai-Tibet rail is now the world's highest-altitude railway, taking that honour from the Peruvian railway through the Andes.

Critics of the complex project fear the railway will end Tibet's economic and cultural isolation, which has kept most of the autonomous region in poverty but also helped mitigate assimilation into the Han majority culture that dominates China. Tibetan independence groups and environmentalists also fear the impact on the fragile ground of one of the world's few pristine and least-populated environments, home to endangered species such as the Tibetan antelope, or chiru.

It will undoubtedly accelerate the migration of Han Chinese from the overpopulated central regions to Tibet, fuelling concerns that Tibetans will soon become a minority in their own capital. The line also has important military benefits, allowing Beijing to swiftly and efficiently move troops and supplies into Tibet if any independence activity increases among the 2 million Tibetans and along China's border with India. According to Beijing, the new rail link will generate more than 4 billion yuan in revenue, and annually bring in about 900,000 tourists to Tibet, China's poorest province.

To counter environmental concerns, more than $A130 million has been spent on building tunnels for migrating wild animals, restoration after construction and other measures to protect the area. A special garbage collecting train will run once a week to pick up refuse and sewage from processing stations along the route.

A basic ticket, known as a "hard seat" in China, will cost 389 yuan (about $A65) from Beijing to Lhasa. A "soft sleeper" in a shared compartment will cost about $A200.

Yappofloyd

06-07-06, 12:37 AM

First train completes journey across the roof of the world The Associated Press Published: July 3, 2006 International Herald Tribune

China's first train from Beijing to Tibet made the final leg of its two-day journey on the world's highest railway, reaching Lhasa Monday after climbing to high elevations that sickened passengers and tested the specially built rail cars. Girls, some dressed in track suits and others in traditional Tibetan robes, draped white scarves, a customary gift of greeting, on arriving passengers in the newly built Lhasa railway station.

Many passengers spent the day coping with the altitude, breathing piped-in oxygen from tubes as the train passed its highest point, the 5,072-meter (16,640-foot) Tanggula Pass. Three passengers threw up, while others had headaches - both symptoms of altitude sickness. Outside, Tibetan antelope and wild donkeys grazed beneath snow-capped mountains and deep-blue skies. Aside from being a feat of engineering, the US$4.2 billion (€3.4 billion) railway is part of efforts to develop China's poor, restive west and bind it more closely to the booming east. Chinese leaders hope greater prosperity will help to still calls by Tibetans and other ethnic minorities for autonomy from the communist Beijing government.

The line has prompted protests by activists who say it will bring an influx of Chinese migrants to the isolated Himalayan region, threatening its ecology and diluting its unique Buddhist culture. Trains completed shorter trips on the line between Lhasa and Golmud while passengers on the 16-car train from the Chinese capital were in the midst of their journey.

State media gave heavy coverage to the railway, with newspapers publishing front-page photos of passengers singing and villagers waving to the passing train. The state television midday news showed President Hu Jintao congratulating workers who built the line. Before the last leg of the trip to Lhasa, the train stopped in Golmud early Monday to switch its standard engine for three powerful locomotives required to haul the train at high altitude. Passengers included a 2 1/2-year-old boy, a 78-year-old man and a group of ethnic Tibetans newly graduated from the Beijing Police Academy who were headed home to work as police officers.

One Tibetan passenger asked a Western reporter what the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, thought of the train. The man, who asked not to be identified by name, said that with China's Internet monitoring, it was too dangerous for him to search news Web sites for the information himself.
The only signs of human habitation in the arid highlands south of Golmud were traditional herders tending yaks and small train stations that dot the rail line.

After the train climbed above 4,000 meters (13,000 feet), ballpoint pens and bags of processed food burst due to the low air pressure. Laptop computers and digital music recorders failed, because moving parts in their disc drives are cushioned by tiny air bags that break at high altitude. China's government says it is spending 1.5 billion yuan (US$190 million; €150 million) on environmental protection along the Golmud-Lhasa stretch of the railway.

But despite promises to minimize pollution, the sides of the line were littered with plastic bags, bottles and cardboard boxes. Large sections of the permanently frozen earth were grassless, puddled and scarred by vehicle tracks. Damaged permafrost "becomes dark, ugly, muddy water," said Daniel Wong, an engineer based in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen who worked on the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, also laid over permafrost. "The most unfortunate thing is that such damage will spread," he said.

The railway is projected to help double tourism revenues in Tibet by 2010 and cut transport costs for goods by 75 percent. Until now, goods going to and from Tibet have been trucked over mountain highways that are often blocked by landslides or snow, making trade prohibitively expensive.

New York-based Students for a Free Tibet set up a Web site, rejecttherailway.com, urging the public to wear black armbands in protest of the project, which the group says "is a tool Beijing will use to overwhelm (the) Tibetan population." "We reject the railway just as we reject China's illegitimate rule in Tibet," the site said. Communist troops marched into Tibet in 1950, and Beijing says the region has been Chinese territory for centuries. But Tibet was effectively independent for much of that time.

The rail line is a decades-old dream for Chinese officials. But work began in earnest only in 2001, after engineers worked out how to stabilize tracks on permafrost. The highest station is in Nagqu, a town at 4,500 meters (14,850 feet) in the plateau's rolling grasslands.

Yappofloyd

09-07-06, 10:18 PM

High and mighty Jul 6th 2006 From Economist.com
China's new railway through Tibet

HOWEVER questionable the political logic behind China’s new railway linking the city of Golmud in Qinghai province with Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, the practical achievement is a formidable one. Built at a cost of around $4.2 billion, and opened for passenger service this week, the railway runs for 1,140 km at an average elevation of 4,000 metres—the highest railway in the world, and one of the most difficult to build, requiring long sections of elevated tracks over unstable permafrost, and scores of bridges and tunnels.

As a prestige project for China’s ruling Communist Party, the railway compares with the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangzi, and with the national space programme. It is meant to boost tourism and trade in the region, and to help with mining of Tibet’s rich deposits of coal, copper, gold and zinc. Those things should make Tibet less reliant on aid from the central government, a mainstay of the local economy ever since the Chinese army asserted central control over Tibet in the 1950s.

All this assumes the line can be kept in good shape. It crosses an active seismic zone, and long sections are built on or above frozen ground saturated with water that can rise or fall by metres as the temperature changes. Experts foresee the need for a big overhaul within as little as ten years. At the very least, maintenance will be difficult and expensive.

China also sees the railway as a first step towards expanding trade links with the South Asian subcontinent. As another part of that effort, it joined with India on Thursday July 6th to re-open the Nathu La pass between southern Tibet and India's north-eastern state of Sikkim, which has stayed closed since China and India went to war in 1962.

This mile-high pass was once part of the Silk Road trade route between China, Central Asia amd Europe. The trade now to be resumed there will be modest at first, in textiles and animal products. But it could grow if local roads and other infrastructure are improved. There is talk, speculative for the moment, of integrating road and rail networks so that Chinese goods can travel via Tibet to bigger markets in Bangladesh and in the Indian state of West Bengal.

Even as the Chinese government touts the railway as a successful development project, international activists and Tibetans-in-exile are critical. If trade and tourism take off, they argue, most of the benefits will accrue to Lhasa's rapidly expanding population of Han Chinese, who control most of the tourist industry as well as most trade between Tibet and the rest of China. Most of the construction companies benefiting from the railway are from eastern China, and the same is likely to be true for mining companies now hoping to use the railway to facilitate their operations in the region. The railway also seems sure to accelerate Han migration to Tibet, which could further stir resentment among the Tibetan population.

Yappofloyd

11-08-06, 08:11 PM

On BBC news http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4778521.stmwebsite.

China to extend Tibetan rail link

The railway, which opened in July, is the world's highest China's government plans to extend its new Tibetan rail link to reach the region's second-biggest city, Xigaze, according to China's state news agency. The existing track opened in July, and connects Tibet's capital Lhasa to Qinghai, and from there to Beijing. It has already caused controversy. The government says it will help the region but critics fear increased control. They also say the railway line threatens both the delicate Himalayan environment and Tibetan culture.

'Great opportunities'

The line to Xigaze will extend the railway by some 270km (170 miles) and should be completed within three years, the state news agency Xinhua reports. "The railway will offer great opportunities for the social and economic development of Xigaze," local official Yu Yungui told Xinhua. The announcement of an extension to the line comes just a month after the completion of the 1,140km (710 mile) line from Golmud, in Qinghai province, to Lhasa.

This line - the world's highest - boasts high-tech engineering to stabilise tracks over permafrost, and sealed cabins to protect passengers from the high altitude. Xigaze lies near the Indian border, and is the traditional seat of the Panchen Lama, a key spiritual leader. In July, China and India reopened a once-important trade route over the Himalayas at the Nathu La pass.
Officials said the improved infrastructure links would lift trade between the two countries, and develop Tibet's local economy.

ncr

13-12-06, 01:44 AM

Here (http://somethingchanged.com/photo_albums/02_railway/) is a photo page of a trip from Chengdu to Lhasa in August 2006 (*envy*), by 2B forum member sabaisabai.

http://somethingchanged.com/photo_albums/02_railway/slides/slide_dsc_0795.jpg

GWR

23-12-06, 11:08 AM

Many pictures include smiling Tibetans. Figure out for yourself whether it is a sign of tension or genuine happiness at the prospect of watching rich Chinese flooding in by train. Loadsa' interesting pictures of the construction: -

http://www.tibettravelplanner.com/train-pictures.htm

http://www.tibettravelplanner.com/train/tibet-train-map.gif

http://www.tibettravelplanner.com/train/200642016561713348.jpg

Yappofloyd

26-01-07, 04:38 PM

So I found this website http://www.chinaview.cn/qztl/index.htm devoted to positive stories on the Qinghai to Tibet railway including maps (like the one posted by Khun GWR below) .

Apparently in the first 100 days of operation the Railway carried 300 000 people. Unexpectedly, according to the article more people travelled out than into Tibet;
XINING, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- By Monday, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the world's highest railway, has operated smoothly for 100 days with nearly 300,000 passengers and 300,000 tons of cargos going into and out of Tibet.

From July 1 when the railway started operation to Oct. 8, the railway transported 65,000 passengers into Tibet and 212,000 out of the region, said Zhao Liwei, an publicity executive with the Qinghai-based Qinghai-Tibet Railway Company. The cargo service, which opened earlier on March 1, transported 280,000 tons of goods into Tibet and 12,000 tons out of the region.

There is also an interesting propaganda piece entitled, Tibet makes the most of limited freedom (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-08/17/content_4973283.htm).

DR.WANGEMANN

25-05-07, 07:53 AM

Dear Members of the Forum,

I received a new updated list of all stations of the QING-ZANG-LINE(TIBET LINE),this list was published by my friend,Mr.Bernd Seiler just recently on the well known German railway magazine "Lok-Report"No.06/07 page 54.Here is the complete list:
Official Km Real Km
GEERMU(Golmud)2828 Meter 818.377
Nanshankou 3080 Meter 845.366
Ganlong(Donglung)3309 Meter 869.400
Passing loop 3385 Meter
Kunlunqiao
Nachitai 3375 Meter 904.700
Passing Loop
Yeniugou
Xiaonanchuan 3832 Meter 927.400 922.X
Passing Loop
Yuzhufeng 4159 Meter 946.550(NOT SHOWN IN OFFICIAL
DOCUMENTS!)
Wangkun(Wonghu)4484 Meter or 964.550 959.X
4525 Meter
Kunlunshan-Pass 4772 Meter or 4768 Meter
Kunlunshan-Tunnel 1686 Meter Length.
Buolongquan(Naij Tal) 4611 Meter 1003.000
Passing Loop Bala 4552 Meter
Chumaerhe(Chumar) 4495 Meter 1049.650 1043.X
Passing Loop Qier
(Mugsei Soglam) 4586 Meter
Wudaoliang(Wutaolen) 4636 Meter 1093.800
Kekesilishan-Pass(Hoh-Xil)4743 Meter or 4741 Meter
Xiushuihe (Luma Chu) 4570 Meter 1131.250
or 4546 Meter
Fenghuoshanyueling-Pass 4907 Meter or 4905 Meter
(Fung-Ho)
Fenghuoshan-Tunnel 4905 Meter 1150.X
1338 Meter Length.
Passing Loop Erdaogou
(Artao-Lung)
Jiangkedong 4478 Meter 1167.500 1159.X
Riachiqu 4584 Meter 1189.699
Wuli 1213.900 1206.X
Tuotuohe 4557 Meter
or 4547 Meter 1236.150
Kaixinling 1257.040
Kaixinling-Pass 4760 Meter
Tongtianhe 4602 Meter
or 4598 Meter 1278.300 1266.5
Tanggang 1306.615 1294.X
Yanshiping 4712 Meter 1333.400 1319.X
Passing Loop Wenquen
Bumade 1355.800 1341.X
Buqiangge 1380.050 1365.5
Tanggula Bei 1404.285
Tanggula(Thangla) 5068 Meter 1420.500
Tanggulashan-Pass 5072 Meter
(Thang-La)
Tanggula Nan 1441.250 1426.5
Zhajiazangbu 4886 Meter 1461.100 1445.5
Tuoju(U-nyok-Chu) 4890 Meter 1500.800 1484.5
Passing Loop Xiuma 4852 Meter
Touerjiushan-Pass 4940 Meter
(Thoe-gyu-la)
Anduo(Amzo Dzong) 4703 Meter 1537.850 1506.3
Cuonahu 4594 Meter 1566.500 1538.X
Lumowori 1594.220 1559.X
(On the station shown as
Liantonghe!)
Seku(On the station the
name is shown as Diwuma!)4585 Meter 1614.000 1578.8
Jiyuo(On the station
the name is shown as
Gangxiu(Gacha)!) 4646 Meter 1652.150 1617.X
Naque(Nagchu) 4541 Meter
or 4512 Meter 1670.400 1635.3
Tuoru(Yuru) 4578 Meter 1711.400 1677.X
Sangxiong 4699 Meter 1743.213 1698.X
Sangxiongling-Pass 4770 Meter 1705.X
or 4750 Meter
Gulu 4673 Meter 1766.100 1721.7
Passing Loop Sangli(Sulu) 4550 Meter
Jiuzina-Pass 4614 Meter
or 4632 Meter
Wumatang(U-ma-Thang) 4502 Meter 1814.300 1760.X
Dangxiong(Damchong) 4293 Meter 1848.000
Passing Loop Ningzhong 4308 Meter
Laqukuo((Dhachu-go) 4327 Meter 1884.300
Laduo 1903.500
Naduola-Pass or
Yangbaling-Pass 4603 Meter
or 4600 Meter
Yangbajing(Yangpachu) 4305 Meter 1921.630
Tunnel Yangbaling 2 1720 Meter Length.
Tunnel Yangbaling 1 3345 Meter Length.
Angga 1941.780
Maxiang 3924 Meter 1954.400 1898.8
Guyong(Zechu) 3818 Meter 1971.000
Tunnel Zaoerfang 411 Meter Length.
Lasa Xi(Lhasa Xi) 3662 Meter 1994.400
LASA SHI(LHASA SHI) 3641 Meter 2005.300
Branch to Lasa Nan:
LASA NAN(LHASA NAN) 3628 Meter
Line end at 2005.918 Km.
All the stations are not shown in the newest edtion of the "COMPLETE RAILWAY TIMETABLE OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA"!
In the moment there are four trains daily in each direction.Here are the trains for the direction to Lhasa are shown:
T 22 Chengdu-Lhasa A
T 222/23 Chongqing-Lhasa B
T 165/223 Shanghai-Lhasa Daily
T 27/164 Beijing Xi-Lhasa Daily
N 917 Xining-Lhasa A
K 917 Lanzhou-Lhasa B
A and B show alternate day runnings.
I do hope that you like this complete station list.
With best wishes from Berlin from

Volker

Yappofloyd

01-09-07, 06:34 PM

The first in a BBC series on the new line.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/44055000/gif/_44055019_china_tibet_railway416.gif

Railway brings new era for Tibet
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/6940182.stm
Published: 2007/08/12 23:11:37 GMT

When a railway line linking Tibet to China opened last year, there were fears it could lead to the erosion of Tibet's unique culture and way of life. In the first of a series from the region, the BBC's Michael Bristow reports on the effects of the line one year on. Lhasa's railway cargo depot lies at the end of a partly-paved road, full of potholes, around 20km (12.5 miles) outside the Tibetan capital. Scurrying to and fro along its platforms, uniformed workers unload everything from construction materials to incense.

Station master Chen Zhanying proudly churns out impressive statistics, detailing exports, imports, costs and benefits. One year after the opening of the railway connecting Tibet with the rest of China, officials are keen to stress its achievements.

Improving wages
Those benefits are not hard to find. Renchin, a cleaner, is just one person whose life has improved with the railway's arrival. The 28-year-old Tibetan works 12 hours a day, six days a week mopping the floor at the railway's passenger terminal on the outskirts of Lhasa. Before the railway opened last July, she worked at a karaoke bar earning far less than the 900 yuan ($119, £59) she now takes home each month. "At my previous job, the wages were bad and the work was hard," she said as she dragged her mop along the floor. She added: "It's a lot better working here."

Businesses, as well as individuals, have also benefited. Along the road leading to the cargo station, a giant gateway tells visitors they have arrived at Lhasa's economic development zone. At the moment there is not much to see. Beyond the impressive entrance, a wide boulevard leads to vacant parcels of land. But the zone's director, Huang Yutian, is optimistic. He said 112 businesses from as far away as Beijing and Guangzhou had already signed up to use the park. These will be involved in industries such as mining, and processing Tibetan wool and dairy products.

Tax revenue from the development zone is expected to double this year to 80m yuan ($10.6m, £5.2m), Mr Huang said. Predictably, tourism has also been given a boost by the railway's arrival to a region with wonderful natural scenery, and colourful temples and monasteries. Previously, Lhasa could be reached only by plane or after a long, arduous road journey. At central Lhasa's Jokhang Temple, one of Tibetan Buddhism's most revered sites, there are now at least twice as many visitors as before. There are so many tourists at the 1,300-year-old temple - pilgrim numbers are about the same - site officials are considering setting limits. "We need to manage visitors in an orderly fashion," said senior monk Chodak. He added: "We are currently trying to figure out the best way to do that."

In short, local officials believe the railway is helping to transform Tibet's economy, improving the lives of ordinary people in the process. Hao Peng, vice-chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region, said the area used to depend on central government funding to drive the economy. But this year private investment, consumption, and imports and exports are all providing new impetus, he explained. Economic growth was up by 14.7% in the first half of this year in the Himalayan region.

Skills gap
But if the railway has brought benefits, critics say they have not been evenly distributed. All the good jobs, they claim, are being taken by China's dominant Han people who move to Tibet to find work. That seems to be at least partly the case at the Hada Group, a Tibetan-run firm in Lhasa making traditional furniture and ironware. Group Chairman Qun Pei said more than 90% of the company's 500 workers are ethnic Tibetans.

But he later admitted the firm had taken on 1,200 temporary workers from other parts of the country this year because it could not find enough Tibetans with the right skills. Government officials admit there is a skills gap and say money has been put aside to train unqualified Tibetans. But even if they are trained, will economic development provide enough jobs in what is still a very remote region?

As the development zone's Mr Huang (unnecessarily) pointed out, Tibet is hardly the centre of the economic universe. This is particularly true for people living outside the main urban areas. The year-old railway is certainly changing Tibet. It is bringing easier access to fresh vegetables, but also more tourists and migrants. For some these changes are welcome and will provide opportunities. Others view them in a less benign light.

GWR

02-12-07, 10:32 PM

High-speed train carries PLA troops to Tibet
Sunday, December 2, 2007
AP

BEIJING-- China's high-speed, high-altitude railway to Tibet carried troops to the region for the first time, state media has reported, in a development likely to fuel concerns about the railway's impact on the restive Himalayan area.

The brief Xinhua News Agency report late Friday did not say how many soldiers were aboard the train that left a provincial city Friday for the Tibetan capital of Lhasa. The report cited unnamed sources in the People's Liberation Army as saying that the "railway will become a main option" for transporting troops to Tibet, replacing the air and road routes used since Chinese troops annexed Tibet 57 years ago.
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/china/2007/12/02/133244/High%2Dspeed%2Dtrain.htm

Yappofloyd

06-01-08, 04:15 PM

Possibly one of the main reasons this line was built!?
Without a doubt! Big pax numbers expected for the coming year as reported by the state media.

Qinghai-Tibet railway to handle 1.6 mln passengers this year 08:47, December 21, 2007
About 1.6 million passengers are forecast to travel on the Qinghai-Tibet railway this year, its first full year of operation, the Tibet tourism authority said on Thursday. The figure was 4.2 times greater than the second half figures of 2006 when the railway went into operation on July 1, an official of the Tibet Autonomous Region said.

From July 2006 to June this year, a total of 1.5 million people had come to Tibet by train. Among those, more than a half were tourists, the official said.
"In the past, foreign visitors made up the majority of tourists in Tibet. But now, the number of domestic tourists has surpassed that of foreigners." This year, Tibet expected to receive a record-high 4.02 million tourists, helping the region's tourism revenues to hit an estimated 4.8 billion yuan (651.3 million U.S. dollars).

Tourism is Tibet's main industry. The region received 2.5 million tourists last year, earning 2.77 billion yuan in total tourism revenue. This accounted for 9.6 percent of the region's gross domestic product. The 1,956-kilometer railway, built at cost of 33 billion yuan, was the first railway to connect Tibet with the outside world. It now transports about 75 percent of the goods between Tibet and other parts of the country.
Source: Xinhua http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90778/6324758.html

Yappofloyd

06-01-08, 04:17 PM

And another perspective...

China’s railway brings record high tourists, but not helping Tibetans
Phayul[Monday, December 17, 2007 14:47] By Phurbu Thinley

China’s state controlled news agency on Monday glorified the new railway linking Tibet to the rest of China and addition of another airport as factors mainly responsible for the drastic rise in the tourist influx into the Himalayan region saying a record four million tourists will have visited Tibet this year. The number of tourists will have jumped over 60 percent from last year bringing in an expected 4.8 billion yuan (650 million dollars) in tourism revenues, 73 percent more that last year, Communist State’s news agency said.

But China’s state controlled media dare not to raise concerns about the railway's impact on the restive Himalayan area. Ever since the railway was first launched on July 1 last year, exiled Tibetans have raised fears that the railway is being used as a tool to consolidate Beijing’s hold over Tibet and further dilute the region’s unique Buddhist culture. Tibetans and critics have also maintained that one of the purposes of the Tibet railway was to transport troops in larger numbers and at much reduced costs from the mainland China into the Tibetan territory.

China, in the meanwhile, kept a stony silence over the allegations and also refrained from immediately using the railway for this purpose in order to avoid giving rise to a new controversy. However, the recent move confirms Beijing's strategic purposes. Xinhua News Agency, last month, reported China's high-speed, high-altitude railway to Tibet carried troops to the region for the first time.The brief report on November 30 did not say how many soldiers were aboard the train that left a provincial city Friday for the Tibetan capital of Lhasa.

The report cited unnamed sources in the People's Liberation Army as saying that the "railway will become a main option" for transporting troops to Tibet, replacing the air and road routes used since Chinese troops occupied Tibet in 1950. Exiled Tibetans condemn the railway as being primarily designed to further accelerate the Chinese population transfer into Tibet, where Han Chinese population is already said to have outnumbered the Tibetan population.

Tibetans argue the rail line is allowing the region to be flooded with more ethnic Han Chinese, who are dominating the business and, eroding the Tibetan traditions and linguistic identity. The latest report released by Tibet's government in exile on World Human Rights Day last week accuses China of sidelining Tibetans and endangering the fragile region's environment.

The third comprehensive report of its kind titled- Tibet: A Human Development and Environment Report, said Beijing should stop dictating and give Tibetans a say in how the high plateau region is developed. The report said China was to blame for erosion of Tibetan culture, partly because of a new railroad linking Beijing to the capital, Lhasa, which has brought an influx of the Chinese Han majority and huge numbers of tourists.

The report has pointed out that China has been carrying out large scale exploitation of the highland plateau’s resources in the name of economic development which do not actually benefit Tibetan people. The report also finds China’s railway to Tibet is also making it easier for Beijing to mine Tibet, which is rich in iron, copper, zinc and other minerals, and speedy construction of numerous dams that will provide hydroelectric power needed to fuel China's growing economy.
http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=18846&article=China%e2%80%99s+railway+brings+record+high +tourists%2c+but+not+helping+Tibetans&t=1&c=1 (http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=18846&article=China%e2%80%99s+railway+brings+record+high +tourists%2c+but+not+helping+Tibetans&t=1&c=1)

GWR

18-02-08, 08:30 PM

The 2nd article below suggests that the photographer and a chief editor have been sacked for this fake:

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-06/28/xin_4620603281647031251996.jpg
[Photo: Xinhua - A group of endangered Tibetan antelopes cross Wubei bridge of the Qinghai-Tibet railway in the Hoh Xil Nature Reserve in northwest China's Qinghai Province in the file photo taken on June 23, 2006. The bridge is one of the 33 passages built for wild animals along the railway. Tibetan antelopes are getting used to the railway scheduled to open on July 1. (Xinhua Photo)]

A page that appears to carry some of the photoshopped pictures:

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-06/28/content_4762436.htm

February 18, 2008 17:34 PM

Photographer Says 'Sorry' For Faking Tibetan Antelope Picture

BEIJING, Feb 18 (Bernama) -- An award-winning photographer in Tibetan antelope protection has apologised to the public for a picture he faked showing more than 20 of the animals roaming peacefully under a railway bridge where a train was passing, Xinhua news agency reported Monday.

"I've carefully read through all the Internet postings about the picture, which I'm ready to say, was modified with Photoshop software," wrote Liu Weiqiang, 41, on a forum of xitek.com, a website for photographer, on Saturday.

A posting appeared on the same forum last Friday pointing out three evidences to show Liu's photo was fabricated.

Zoologists say Tibetan antelopes are easily disturbed by even the slightest sound. Yet the herd on Liu's photo were running calmly in an orderly queue.

Liu, a photographer with Daqing Evening News in northeastern Heilongjiang Province, allegedly "shot" the photo showing the critically-endangered Tibetan antelopes totally undisturbed by the roaring train on June 23, 2006, a week before the landmark railway to Tibet opened to traffic.

His work, named "Qinghai-Tibet railway opening green passageway for wild animals", was among "the 10 most impressive news photos of 2006", an annual event sponsored by Chinese Central Television (CCTV).

"It was designed to be a poster, but was published on many websites for free," Liu wrote in the posting.

"I was surprised it stood out in the CCTV photo contest," he wrote.

At CCTV's award granting ceremony on Dec 27, 2006, Liu said he had been waiting for eight days and eight nights in the uninhabited land of Hoh Xil, more than 4,000 metres above sea level, to shoot the creature, according to scripts of the event still available at CCTV.com.

In his posting Liu said he had actually downplayed the hardship he suffered. "I spent at least two weeks there waiting for the antelopes and train to appear together, but they never did," he said.

He eventually resorted to Photoshop to stitch together two photos he shot over the time, one with a coming train and the other, with dozens of antelopes.

"I admit it's unfaithful, as well immoral, for a photographer to present a fabricated picture. I'm truly sorry," read Liu's posting.

"But I trust you still remember what I said at the award granting ceremony, 'that I just want to give the Tibetan antelopes an opportunity' and 'that I accepted the award on behalf of the animals'".

Liu said he was moved that so many Chinese Internet users were attentive to the photo.

"I am to blame for the fabrication and I will face all the consequences. But I'm relieved to see a fake picture has aroused so many people's attention of, and love for, Tibetan antelopes."

BERNAMA

1st Ld: Photographer and paper say "sorry", chief editor quits over fake antelope picture
HARBIN, Feb 18, 2008 (Xinhua via COMTEX) --

A Chinese newspaper has apologized and its chief editor resigned over a fake picture scandal, in which a photographer stitched together two photos into one to show more than 20 Tibetan antelopes roaming peacefully under a bridge of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway.

Daqing Evening News, based in the oil city Daqing of the northeastern Heilongjiang Province, said Monday in a statement on its website that "we sincerely apologize to Chinese Central Television (CCTV), Xinhuanet and other media that published the picture. We also apologize to the photography circle and the public for the bad influence of the fake photo."

Wang Zhongyi, chief editor of the newspaper, resigned on Sunday over the scandal, according to sources at the newspaper.

The newspaper's apology came two days after the photographer named Liu Weiqiang, 41, admitted that he faked the picture and apologized to the public.

Liu's work, named "Qinghai-Tibet railway opening green passageway for wild animals", was among "the 10 most impressive news photos of 2006", an annual event sponsored by the CCTV.

It was published by a few Chinese media, including the website of China News Service, China Foto Press and China Photomall, a photographic website founded by Xinhua News Agency. The picture then spread over the Internet.

A posting appeared on a forum of xitek.com, a website for photographers, last Friday pointing out three clues revealing that Liu's photo was a fake - including a red line, which, visible only after being amplified many times, was the joint of two separate pictures, and the incredible calmness of the antelopes at the roaring train.

Zoologists say Tibetan antelopes are easily disturbed by even the slightest sound. Yet the herd on Liu's photo were trotting calmly in an orderly queue.

Liu allegedly "shot" the photo showing the critically-endangered Tibetan antelopes undisturbed by the roaring train on June 23, 2006, a week before the landmark railway to Tibet opened to traffic.

At CCTV's award-granting ceremony on Dec. 27, 2006, Liu said he had been waiting for eight days and eight nights in the uninhabited land of Hoh Xil, more than 4,000 meters above sea level, to shoot the creature, according to scripts of the event still available at CCTV.com.

Daqing Evening News said in the statement that the newspaper was responsible for failing to supervise Liu properly, despite the fact that Liu's participation in the CCTV photo contest was his personal business.

Liu, born in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, majored in Chinese literature at university and was an avid painter. He was a teacher for five years before he became a cameraman at an oil refinery in Daqing in 1995. He joined Daqing Evening News in 1997 and is also a senior member of the Chinese photographers' association.

He won gold prize in a Chinese photo contest in 2002 with a picture featuring a sandstorm.

The antelope photo has inevitably reminded the Chinese of the suspected fake south China tiger photo, allegedly shot by a farmer in Shaanxi Province in October, that caused a national controversy.

Zhou Zhenglong, from mountainous Zhenping County, presented photos of the tiger he said were taken in the forest near his village.

The local forestry authority said the photos were proof the rare tiger still existed in the wild. But Internet users accused Zhou of making the tiger images with digital software, and local authorities of approving the photographs to bolster tourism.

In December, the State Forestry Administration demanded the provincial forestry department have the photo authenticated by a panel of experts, but no results have been published.

Two weeks ago the Shaanxi Forestry Department apologized for publicizing the photos, but said nothing about their authenticity.

http://www.individual.com/story.php?story=77936191

GWR

20-02-08, 03:00 PM

Chinese photographer blacklisted for faking photo

Wednesday, February 20, 2008
AP

BEIJING -- A Chinese photographer who faked an award winning photo of Tibetan antelopes has been permanently blacklisted for his actions, state media reported.

Five Chinese media outlets have terminated their contracts with Liu Weiqing, a photographer with the Daqing Evening News, saying his behavior "severely breached the ethical codes of journalists," the Xinhua News Agency said late Monday.

The five companies -- China Photomall, a photographic Web site founded by Xinhua News Agency; CNSPHOTO, affiliated with China News Service; and three other photographic media -- said they would delete all of Liu's works from their databases.

The 41-year-old photographer admitted he combined two photos into one to show more than 20 Tibetan antelopes roaming peacefully under a ridge of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway.

The photo was named among the 10 most impressive news photos of 2006 at an annual event sponsored by China Central Television.

It became the subject of suspicion on the Internet because it showed a herd of calm antelopes grazing as a train roared by. Zoologists say Tibetan antelopes are easily disturbed by even the slightest sound.

On Feb. 16, Liu confessed in an interview with a Chengdu-based newspaper that he faked the picture, and published a personal statement on the Internet, Xinhua said.

"I have no reason to continue my sacred career as a newsman. I am not qualified for the job. I have sent in my resignation to the newspaper," it quoted the statement as saying.

His apology was followed by the resignation of the newspaper's chief editor, Wang Zhongyi, and a public apology by the newspaper for "failing to supervise Liu properly," Xinhua said.
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/china/2008/02/20/143648/Chinese%2Dphotographer.htm

GWR

10-03-08, 11:45 AM

China plans 'most luxurious train in the world' to Tibet

AFP

BEIJING -- China will launch "the most luxurious train in the world" to ply the route from Beijing to Tibet's capital Lhasa, state media reported Sunday. However, a ride on the train, which will begin operations on September 1, will be about 20 times more expensive than the ordinary fare of about 2,000 yuan (US$280), Xinhua news agency said.
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/china/business/china%20ex%20hk/2008/03/10/146379/China%2Dplans.htm

Tibet's language, customs fading away: Dalai Lama

By Benjamin Kang Lim, Reuters

BEIJING -- Tibet's language, customs and traditions are fading away and Tibetans live in fear as they become an insignificant minority in their Himalayan homeland, the Dalai Lama will say in a speech on Monday.

The Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, will urge the international community to call on China to respect freedom of expression during the Beijing Olympics, according to an advance copy of his statement obtained by Reuters.

Monday marks the 49th anniversary of an uprising crushed by the Chinese People's Liberation Army, driving the Dalai Lama, now 72, into exile in India.

"The language, customs and traditions of Tibet ... are gradually fading away," the Dalai Lama will say in the speech from Dharamsala, the north Indian hill station where he lives.

Tibetans "have had to live in a state of constant fear, intimidation and suspicion under Chinese repression", he will say.

"Repression continues to increase with numerous, unimaginable and gross violations of human rights, denial of religious freedom and the politicization of religious issues."

As a result of China's policy of population transfer, the non-Tibetan population has increased many times, reducing Tibetans to an "insignificant minority in their own country ... I urge the Chinese government to bring an immediate halt to such policies", the Dalai Lama will say.

The atheist Communist Party has competed against the Dalai Lama for the loyalty of his people but the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize winner remains the single most important figure in Tibetan life. China has defended itself saying it ended centuries of serfdom and has poured billions of dollars to develop Tibet and raise the living standards of the impoverished, predominantly Buddhist region.

Turning to the Olympics, the Dalai Lama will say he has supported Beijing hosting the Games from the very beginning, dismissing an accusation by China's top official in Tibet, Zhang Qingli, that he was trying to "sabotage and cause trouble".

The Dalai Lama will urge the international community to urge China to prove itself a good host by respecting freedom of expression during the Games.

"The world should ... explore ways of investing their collective energies in producing a continuous positive change inside China after the Olympics have come to an end," he will say. The Dalai Lama will have no harsh words for Chinese President Hu Jintao, who said last week stability in occasionally restive Tibet had a bearing on the stability of China as a whole.

The Dalai Lama will welcome China's emergence as a powerful country thanks to its economic progress, but he will prod China to improve observance of the rule of law, transparency, the right to information and freedom of speech.

Despite "no concrete result" in talks between China and the Dalai Lama's envoys, the Dalai Lama will say his "determination to pursue the middle-way policy and to continue our dialogue with the Chinese government remain unchanged."
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/china/local%20news/tibet/2008/03/10/146375/Tibet%27s%2Dlanguage.htm

GWR

10-04-08, 02:05 PM

See also two previous posts.

China to spend 1.2 bln yuan on logistics hub for Tibet railway

LHASA, April 9 (Xinhua) -- China's government will spend 1.2 billion yuan (about 160 million U.S. dollars) this year on a logistics center for the Qinghai-Tibet railway, project officials said on Wednesday.

Construction of the Naqu logistics center, 300 kilometers north of the Tibetan capital Lhasa, has resumed after a six-month suspension caused by winter conditions.

Song Jinlun, vice general engineer of the project, said that about 26 culverts, 27.54 km of rail lines and 7.94 million cubic meters of earthworks will be built for the center, which is near the Naqu railway station. Upon completion next year, the center will have facilities for product processing, storage and distribution.

The 1,956-km Qinghai-Tibet line, running from Xi'ning, the capital of northwest Qinghai Province, to Lhasa, started operation in July 2006, bringing Tibet its first rail service. (Xinhua)
http://enews.mcot.net/view.php?id=3701

GWR

27-04-08, 09:21 PM

See also two previous posts.

Sunday, April 27, 2008
China begins building Tibet-Nepal rail link
AFP

KATHMANDU -- China has started to build a rail link between Tibet and Nepal that could drastically reduce Kathmandu's trade reliance on its giant southern neighbor India, officials said Saturday. Beijing is bringing the railway line from Lhasa -- the capital of troubled Chinese-controlled Tibet -- to Khasa, a town along the Nepal-China border, Aditya Baral, the Nepalese premier's foreign affairs adviser, told AFP. "Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala was told by a visiting Chinese delegation during a meeting Friday the Chinese government has begun the railway extension project on its side to link with the Nepal-China border," Baral said.
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/china/national%20news/2008/04/27/153870/China%2Dbegins.htm

India mulls railway to Nepal following Chinese plans

NEW DELHI (AFP) - Indian officials are exploring five options for a railway to neighbouring Nepal, speeding up efforts after China opened its first rail link to Tibet last year, a report said Saturday.

The surveys on the viability of the rail projects have acquired “top priority” in the railway ministry because of concerns over Chinese plans to extend the Tibetan line to the Nepal border, the Indian Express reported.

The Tibet railway, which opened in July, runs 1,142 kilometers (713 miles) from Qinghai province to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, making it the highest line in the world.

Kathmandu said last year that Beijing was willing to extend the line into Nepal.

“Although the Lhasa-Nepal link may neither be technically feasible nor financially viable, the strategic importance of such a link cannot be undermined,” a senior Indian railway official told the newspaper.

China also has plans to build a railway line to the Tibetan town of Chomo near a Himalayan border pass to the Indian state of Sikkim in the next 10 years.

Last year, India and China agreed to open the border pass to revive direct trade. The pass was closed 44 years ago following a brief war between the two nations.

The two Asian giants have also been holding talks to sort out a decades-old border row, though the border has remained largely peaceful since the war.

This entry was posted on April 7, 2007 at 9:14 pm

GWR

09-05-08, 10:29 PM

GWR

11-05-08, 09:13 PM

Sunday, May 11, 2008
Qinghai-Tibet power line planned to boost economy
AFP

BEIJING -- China plans to build a power transmission line from northwestern Qinghai province to the troubled province of Tibet in a bid to boost the region's economy, state media said Saturday.

The 1,100-kilometer (680-mile) line would take electricity from Golmud in Qinghai to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, on the same route as the recently-opened railway, officials told the Xinhua news agency.

The power line has a first-stage target of transmitting 6.5 billion kilowatt-hours annually, and is expected to be in operation by 2010, said officials at the National Development and Reform Commission.

Xue Gengxin, vice president of the Xibei Electric Power Design Institute, said that the electricity line would be the world's first above 5,000 meters in altitude, and that special permafrost research was being carried out.

Beijing recently held informal talks with exiled Tibetan envoys, a move seen as a political response to global protests over China's crackdown on unrest in the province that angered Beijing leaders ahead of the Olympics in August.

The Tibetan government-in exile says 203 Tibetans have been killed and about 1,000 injured in the Chinese crackdown. China denies this, saying Tibetan "rioters" and "insurgents" killed 21 people.

Beijing authorities often stress the economic advantages of the Qinghai-Tibet train line -- the highest in the world -- for Tibet province, which has recently received massive Chinese investment.
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/china/national%20news/2008/05/11/155891/Qinghai%2DTibet%2Dpower.htm

GWR

25-05-08, 11:59 PM

May 15, 2008
Nepal to get China rail link
By Sudha Ramachandran

BANGALORE - China has begun building a railway connecting the Tibetan capital of Lhasa with the market town of Khasa on the Sino-Nepal border. The rail link, the latest Chinese initiative to improve its transport infrastructure in the Himalayan region, is expected to enhance Nepal's economic engagement with China and reduce its dependence on India.

The 770-kilometer Lhasa-Khasa railway line is an extension of the world's highest railway, which runs from Golmud in China's Qinghai province to Lhasa. Inaugurated in August 2006, the Golmud-Lhasa rail integrated Tibet into China's national rail network. With its extension up to the Nepal border, Nepal will be plugged into China's rail network.

Landlocked Nepal has hitherto largely been dependent on India for imports. With trains from China soon reaching its border, Nepal will find importing from its northern neighbor easier. Sino-Nepal trade will expand exponentially, at India's expense.

Road and rail building has been a key component of the Chinese grand strategy in the Himalayan region for decades. Building motorable roads into Tibet began as early as 1950, in line with Mao Zedong's orders to the People's Liberation Army as it prepared to annex the territory: "Advance while building roads."

The construction of roads linking Tibet with Qinghai, Sichuan, Xinjiang and Yunnan was achieved against all odds and at great human cost. But it enabled Beijing to pour troops into Tibet to quell unrest, provide supplies to soldiers deployed there, consolidate its control over Tibet and integrate the area economically with China.

Now the focus is on improving Tibet's connectivity with South Asia, flattening, as it were, the Himalayan barrier to overland trade.

Besides the Lhasa-Khasa railway, China is said to be considering an extension of the Golmu-Lhasa line up to Xigaze, south of Lhasa and from there to Yatung, a trading center, barely a few kilometers from Nathu La, a mountain pass that connects Tibet with the Indian state of Sikkim. There is a proposal too to extend the line to Nyingchi, an important trading town north of the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, at the tri-junction with Myanmar.

These rail lines will bring Chinese trains up to Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh - two Indian states that figure prominently on the radar of Sino-Indian disputes. China claims 90,000 square kilometers of territory in the eastern Himalayas, roughly approximating to Arunachal Pradesh, and Chinese incursions are reported here frequently. As for Sikkim, it is only since 2004 that China has implicitly recognized its integration into India. Not only does Sikkim share borders with Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan but also it is situated above the "Chicken's Neck" - the sliver of land that links India with its northeastern states.

The extension of the railway to the Sino-Indian border at Sikkim and Arunachal could pose a threat to India's security and economy if New Delhi fails to build its own network here to match the Chinese, Indian analysts say.

In July 2006, Sino-Indian border trade was resumed at Nathu La in Sikkim after a gap of 44 years. Officials in the Sikkim government told Asia Times Online that compared with China's elaborate network of roads and planned railway to Nathu La, "on this side of the border the state of infrastructure is laughable".

One said: "When trade takes off in a big way in a few years, goods by the train-load will arrive at Nathu La from China. India will be in a position then to send back mere truck-loads."

Sikkim has only one road - a 56-kilometer single-lane link - linking its capital Gangtok to Nathu La, and one landslide-prone road, just five meters wide, joining the area with the rest of India. Sikkim's road density is 28.45 kilometers per 100 square kilometer against the national average of 84 kilometers. Arunachal Pradesh is even worse off, with a road density of just 18.65 kilometers per 100 square kilometer.

India's rail network is the world's most extensive but it does not penetrate the border-states of Sikkim, Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh. The situation in the other northeastern states is only marginally better.

Economists and security experts have been warning that Delhi is napping while China is set to chug up to the Sino-Indian border. Government officials, for their part, point to innumerable proposed road and rail projects. "The feasibility of some road and rail links is being studied, some projects have been sanctioned and others are being executed," a senior government official in Delhi told Asia Times Online.

India does plan to expand its rail links with Nepal, proposing to extend across the Nepal border to Kathmandu the rail line at present connecting Raxaul in Bihar state with Birganj. Trucks carrying Indian goods from Birganj to Kathmandu have to travel 220 kilometers. A train from Birganj to Kathmandu that cuts through mountains will be a mere 80 kilometers, cutting travel time and costs.

The technical and financial feasibility of five other routes - Nautanwa in India to Bhairahwa in Nepal, Nepalgunj Road to Nepalgunj, Jogbani to Biratnagar, New Jalpaiguri to Kakrabitta and Jayanagar to Bardibas - is being studied.

India also plans to run rail links to Bhutan, which like Nepal is landlocked and sandwiched between India and China. There are plans to connect Hasimara in India with Phuentsholing in Bhutan, Banarhat to Samtse, Rangia to Samdrup Jongkhar, Kokrajhar to Gelephu and Pathsala to Nanglam.

In Sikkim, the Gangtok-Nathu La road is being widened and the government has sanctioned another linking Sikkim with the rest of India to be built.

In Arunachal Pradesh, airports will be built in the state capital Itanagar and another at Tawang, a district which is seen as holding the key to the Sino-Indian border dispute. India is also constructing a 1,840 kilometer trans-Arunachal highway touching India's borders with China, Bhutan and Myanmar and a rail network.

This array of road and rail-building projects looks positive on paper but completion targets may prove fickle, if the experience of the strife-torn states of Jammu and Kashmir and Manipur is any guide. Trains were supposed to be running in the Kashmir Valley by last August, but that now looks unlikely to happen for another five years at least.

In comparison, road and rail projects in China are completed quickly and often ahead of time. The Golmud-Lhasa line was ready a year ahead of schedule. "China begins implementation of projects quickly," a Sikkim government official said. A month after the inauguration of the Golmud-Lhasa railway, China promised the Nepal government that it would extend this line up to the Sino-Nepal border. "Less than two years after that promise was made, work has begun," the official said. "And it will be completed in five years."

Indian railway construction officials blame difficult, mountainous terrain for the delay in projects. About 120 kilometer of the 292 kilometer Kashmir railway line consists of tunnels; delaying matters further, several are reported to have collapsed during construction. Yet the much longer Golmud-Lhasa rail runs through far more treacherous terrain and climatic conditions and was completed on time.

India's road and rail projects in the Himalayan region often run through insurgency-wracked regions, with security concerns adding to delays. The Kashmir rail line has come under repeated attacks and at least two Indian railway employees have been in efforts to halt the project.

Economists have said the Indian government has been shortsighted in assessing the benefits and feasibility of projects. The Bhutan rail link may attract too little passenger and goods traffic to justify the cost and the Sikkim link may also serve merely border trade at Nathu La.

Compare that with the benefits to China of a Nathu La link, which will open access to the Indian port of Kolkata and to markets in the Indian plains, Myanmar and Southeast Asia.

Parts of the Indian establishment also fear that building an extensive road/rail network along the country's northern borders will help Chinese good to flood Indian markets - overlooking the opportunities for India in the opposite direction.

Sudha Ramachandran is an independent journalist/researcher based in Bangalore.
www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/JE15Df01.html

India Railwatch Thread:
http://www.angkor.com/2bangkok/2bangkok/forum/showthread.php?p=21200#post21200

GWR

19-08-08, 03:25 PM

China to add 6 new routes to controversial Tibet railway network
AP
Monday, August 18, 2008

BEIJING -- China is planning to build six new railway lines in and around Tibet, expanding services

that the government says are improving the Himalayan region's economy but that critics complain pose a threat to Tibetan culture.

The Ministry of Railways said in an announcement on its Web site that two of the new lines would run from the capital, Lhasa, to other areas in Tibet, while the other four would be built in neighboring provinces on the Tibetan plateau.

The announcement was posted Saturday and reported in state-run media on Sunday.

The new lines are to go into operation before 2020 and give the Tibetan plateau region closer interaction with the economy and culture of China, the ministry said.

China in 2006 opened the final link of a line from Beijing to Lhasa, a multibillion-dollar project that Beijing boasts is the world's highest railway. Much of the last third of 710-mile (1,140-kilometer) link was specially engineered to protect delicate frozen earth.

Tourism has increased since the completion of the railway, and Beijing has encouraged majority Han Chinese to travel and move to the region.

The ministry said that in two years, the railway has moved 5.56 million passengers and 4.05 million tons of cargo, which has lowered local prices of goods.

Foreign activists say the railway enables the government to exploit the region's natural resources while threatening its Buddhist culture and traditional way of life.

China has defended policies in Tibet, saying improvements in infrastructure and health care, along with campaigns to settle nomadic herders in permanent communities, were improving the quality of life.

China says Tibet has been its territory for centuries. Tibetan activists say the region was independent before the Communist Army occupied it in 1951.
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/china/national%20news/2008/08/18/170688/China-to.htm