Staff Reporter
2014-08-19
A train enters Xigaze Station on the newly inaugurated Lhasa-Xigaze Railway, Aug. 16.
The Lhasa-Xigaze Railway and the Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway will help Chinese military deployments and resource allocations in southern Tibet and enhance Beijing's control over the country's border with India, China's nationalistic tabloid Global Times reports.
Trains began running on the Lhasa-Xigaze Railway on Aug. 16, shortening the travel time between Lhasa and Xigaze to around two hours. The link allows the PLA to respond quickly and transport supplies to southwestern Tibet in a contingency. The 253-km railroad on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is said to be the most costly railway ever built at 50,000 yuan (US$8,100) per meter as it situated at over 4,000 meters above sea level and requires many bridges and tunnels to cross the mountainous terrain.
Officials responsible for Tibet's economy said the railway will significantly boost the region's tourism industry.
The other link, the Lhasa-Nyingchi line, is set to begin construction before the end of this year and to be completed by 2018. The line will be 433 kilometers in length and trains may reach speeds of 160 km/hr, will transport both passengers and goods and be used by civilians and the military. It will form a reverse V-shape defense with the Lhasa-Xigaze Railway in southern Tibet and enhance the PLA's mobility in the Himalayas.
From the Indian perspective, India Today reported that China will further expand the railways to Nepal and Bhutan to increase its control over the border with India and be used as bargaining chips in border issues.
Global Times confirmed that the two railways will extend to Yadong county, which neighbors Bhutan and the Indian state of Sikkim and Nyalam county at the border with Nepal.
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