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Qinghai–Tibet railway མཚོ་བོད་ལྕགས་ལམ། 青藏铁路
A train pulled by a pair of NJ2 locomotives travels on the Qingzang railway in 2008
Overview
Status	Operational
Locale	People's Republic of China Qinghai Tibet Autonomous Region
Coordinates	{{33°00′18.50″N 91°38′57.70″E / 33.0051389°N 91.6493611°E}}
Termini	Xining railway station Lhasa railway station
Service
Type	Heavy rail
System	China Railway
Operator(s)	China Railway Qingzang Group
History
Opened	1984 (Xining–Nanshankou) 2006 (Nanshankou–Lhasa)
Technical
Line length	1,956 km (1,215 mi)
Number of tracks	2 (Xining–Golmud) 1 (Golmud–Lhasa)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	Overhead catenary 25kV 50Hz (Xining–Golmud)
Operating speed	160 km/h (99 mph) (Xining–Golmud) 100 km/h (62 mph) (Golmud–Lhasa)

This article contains Tibetan script. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Tibetan characters.

The Qinghai–Tibet railway or Qingzang railway (Standard Tibetan: མཚོ་བོད་ལྕགས་ལམ།, mtsho bod lcags lam; simplified Chinese: 青藏铁路; traditional Chinese: 青藏鐵路; pinyin: Qīngzàng Tiělù), is a high-elevation railway line in China between Xining, Qinghai Province, and Lhasa, Tibet.^[1] With over 960 km (600 mi) of track being more than 4,000 m (13,123 ft) above sea level, it is the highest railway line in the world.

Construction began on the 815 km (506 mi) section between Xining and Golmud in 1958 and was completed in 1984;^[2] the remaining 1,142 km (710 mi) from Golmud to Lhasa started construction in 2001 and opened in 2006,^[3][4] making it the first railway line in Tibet.^[5] Passenger trains run from Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Xining, and Lanzhou, and can carry between 800 and 1,000 passengers during peak season.^[6][7]

In addition to it being the world's highest railway, the line is also the holder of numerous other records; the line includes the Tanggula Pass, the highest point on a railway in the world at 5,072 m (16,640 ft) above sea level, and Tanggula railway station at 5,068 m (16,627 ft) is the world's highest railway station. The 1,338 m (4,390 ft) long Fenghuoshan tunnel is the highest rail tunnel in the world at 4,905 m (16,093 ft) above sea level.^[8]

In 2022, the Chinese government announce plans for the line to be electrified. Construction started in June 2022 and is expected to take three years, at a total cost of 14.84 billion yuan.^[9][10]

Construction

The capital of the Qinghai Province, Xining, became connected with the rest of the country by rail in 1959, when the Lanqing Railway from Lanzhou was completed.^[11]

The 815 km (506 mi) section of the future Qingzang Railway from Xining to Golmud, Qinghai opened to traffic in 1984. But the remaining 1,142 km (710 mi) section from Golmud to Lhasa could not be constructed until technical difficulties of building railroad tracks on permafrost were solved.^[12] This section was formally started on 29 June 2001, finished on 12 October 2005, and signaling work and track testing took another eight months. It was completed in five years at a cost of $3.68 billion.^[13]

Track-laying in Tibet was launched from both directions, towards Tanggula Mountain and Lhasa, from Amdo railway station on 22 June 2004. On 24 August 2005, track was laid at the railway's highest point, the Tanggula Pass, 5,072 m (16,640 feet) above sea level.^[14]

There are 44 stations, among them Tanggula Mountain railway station, at 5,068 m (16,627 ft) the world's highest. Peru's Ticlio railway station at 4,829 m (15,843 ft) is the highest in the Americas (Cóndor station; at 4,786 m or 15,702 ft, on the Rio Mulatos-Potosí line, Bolivia, and La Galera station at 4,777 m or 15,673 ft, in Peru, being the next highest). The Qingzang Railway project involved more than 20,000 workers and over 6,000 pieces of industrial equipment, and is one of China's major accomplishments of the 21st century.

Bombardier Transportation built 361 high-altitude passenger carriages with special enriched-oxygen and UV-protection systems, delivered between December 2005 and May 2006. Fifty-three are luxury sleeper carriages for tourist services.^[15]

The construction of the railway was part of the China Western Development strategy, an attempt to develop the western provinces of China, which are much less developed than eastern China. The railway will be extended to Zhangmu via Shigatse (日喀则) to the west, and Dali via Nyingchi (林芝) to the east. A further extension is planned to link Shigatse with Yadong near the China-India border^[16] (Map^[17]). The railway is considered one of the greatest feats in modern Chinese history by the government, and as a result, is often mentioned on regular TV programs. Chinese-Tibetan folk singer Han Hong has a song called Tianlu (Road to Heaven; 天路) praising the Qingzang Railway.

Completed extensions

On 17 August 2008, a railway spokesman confirmed plans to add six more rail lines connecting to the Qinghai–Tibet railway, including from Lhasa to Nyingchi and from Lhasa to Shigatse, both in the Tibet Autonomous Region. Three lines will originate from Golmud in Qinghai province and run to Chengdu in Sichuan province, Dunhuang in Gansu province, and Korla of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The sixth will link Xining, the capital of Qinghai, with Zhangye in Gansu. The six lines are expected to be in operation before 2020.^[18] Construction work of the Lhasa–Shigatse extension began on 26 September 2010;^[19] it was opened in August 2014.^[20]

The construction of Dunhuang–Golmud railway began in December 2012 and finished on 18 December 2019.^[21] This new railway extends the existed Yinmaxia station on the Qinghai–Tibet Railway 506 km (314 mi) to Dunhuang, Gansu,^[22] establishing a direct connection between Xinjiang and Tibet.

Addition of capacity and electrification

Given that the Sichuan-Tibet railway is expected to be completed relatively later with less capacity, the Qinghai–Tibet railway is expected to add cargo capacity to fulfill the demand of material transportation. 13 stations along the Qinghai–Tibet railway have received extensions of sidings or passing loops, or these were built from scratch. This will allow the daily train received from Lhasa Railway station to expand from 6 to 12–14. An electrification feasibility study is also in progress.^[23]

Connection to Nepal

In a meeting between Chinese and Nepalese officials on 25 April 2008, the Chinese delegation announced the intention to extend the Qingzang railway originally to Zhangmu (Nepali: Khasa) on the Nepalese border. Nepal had requested that the railway be extended to enable trade and tourism between the two nations. The section Lhasa-Shigatse opened in August 2014. In June 2018, China and Nepal signed a series of agreements including the construction of Shigatse-Kathmandu railway during Nepali prime minister Oli's visit to China.

China plans to extend this railway up to Lake Paiku/Gyirong, which is around 60 km from the Rasuwa border crossing. Construction of the railway from Shigatse to Gyirong is expected to start in 2025.^[24] The final part of the whole infrastructure will be the Gyirong-Katmandu railway.

Route

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Within the Golmud to Lhasa section of the line there are 45 stations, 38 of which are unstaffed and monitored by the control center in Xining. Thirteen more stations are planned.^[25]

Golmud

Nanshankou

Ganlong

Nachitai

Xiaonanchuan

Yuzhufeng

Wangkun

Budongquan

Chumaerhe

Wudaoliang

Xiushuihe

Jiangkedong

Riaquchi

Tuotuohe

Tongtianhe

Yanshiping

Buqiangge

Tanggula

Zhajiazangbu

Tuoju

Amdo

Cuonahu

Diwuma

Gangxiu

Nagqu

Tuoru

Gulu

Wumatang

Damxung

Daqiongguo

Yangbajing

Maxiang

Lhasa west

Lhasa

● Ordinary station
● Station with vista point
Note: stations in gray are unstaffed
Note: this image is not to scale

The 4,010 m (13,160 ft) New Guanjiao Tunnel is the longest tunnel between Xining and Golmud, and the 3,345 m (10,974 ft) Yangbajing tunnel is the longest tunnel between Golmud and Lhasa. More than 960 km (600 mi), over 80% of the Golmud–Lhasa section, is at an elevation of more than 4,000 m (13,123 ft). There are 675 bridges, totalling 160 km (99 mi); about 550 km (340 mi) of track is laid on permafrost.