The Construction of Sichuan-Tibet Railway is in Full Swing

Map of Sichuan-Tibet Railway (still being constructed)

Sichuan-Tibet Railway which stretches as far as 1629 km is expected to be finished around 2030. The 1629-km railway covers 979km in Tibet Autonomous Region and 650km in Sichuan Province, and consists of three parts, i.e. Chengdu-Kangding, Kangding- Nyingchi, Lhasa-Nyingchi. By the time the construction of entire Sichuan-Tibet Railway finishes, it is believed to take only 15 hours to travel from Chengdu to Lhasa. (While currently it takes 41:35 hours)

Map of Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway

The building of Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway is about to begin in 2016. When Chengdu-Kangding Railway and Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway are open to the public, it only takes about 3 hours or so to move from Lhasa to Nyingchi, which is 5 hours less than taking buses; while travelling to Kangding from Chengdu will also be one hour less (Currently, it takes 4-5 hours.)

An Extension of “The Sky Road”

The geographical survey is being conducted for Sichuan-Tibet Railway.

So far, Qinghai-Tibet Railway has been the only railway to Tibet. The construction of it began in July, 1, 2006 and the railway had a distance of 1,956km. Taking Qinghai-Tibet train from Chengdu to Lhasa, passengers will spend 41:35 hours in the train. If one drives to Lhasa via China national highway 318 (G318), it normally takes 3 days. As long as the construction of Sichuan-Tibet Railway finishes, it will drastically bring down the travel time to only 15 hours.

Technically, compared with the construction of Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the building of Sichuan-Tibet Railway is even tougher. “It is like building the huge roller coaster between the most menacing and complex valleys on the extreme plateau.” Lin Shijing, the vice chief engineer, explained. The engineers have to solve many challenges, such as geographical fault, intense earthquake, dense cobble layer, high geothermal obstruction, low supply of oxygen in tunnel, etc. In addition, the Sichuan-Tibet Railway will cross Yarlung Tsangpo River for 16 times, with a total of 300.01km railway tunnels, or 74.6% of the entire railway.

Overall, in the future the Sichuan-Tibet Railway will carry over 48% of the Tibet inbound passengers and 41% of the freight to Lhasa will be transported through this railway as well. Meanwhile not only will it facilitate the transportation in Garze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Chamdo, Nyingchi, and Lhoka (Shannan) Prefecture, but also benefit China’s trade with countries in the south of Asia.  

*And another three railways linking Yunnan, Xinjiang, and Gansu to Lhasa are still being constructed or under consideration.