Portal:Trains/Selected article/Week 5, 2007

The Qingzang railway, Qinghai–Xizang railway, or Qinghai–Tibet railway, is a high-altitude railway that connects Xining, Qinghai Province, to Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, in the People's Republic of China. The section of the railway between Golmud and Lhasa was inaugurated on 1 July 2006, by president Hu Jintao, when the first two passenger trains departed, "Qing 1" (Q1) from Golmud towards Lhasa, and on the return side "Zang 2" (J2) leaving from Lhasa. This railway is the first to connect China proper with the Tibet Autonomous Region, which due to its altitude and terrain was the last province-level entity in the People's Republic of China to have a conventional railway. Unmanned testing of the line and equipment had started on May 1, 2006. Direct trains run from Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Xining, and Lanzhou, establishing a straight connection between Lhasa and other major cities in the PRC. The line includes the Tanggula Pass, which at 5,072 metres above sea level is the world's highest section of railroad track, and the 1,338 m Fenghuoshan tunnel, the highest rail tunnel in the world at 4,905 m above sea level. The 3,345-meter Yangbajing tunnel is the longest tunnel on the line at 4,264 m above sea level and located 80 kilometres NW of the regional capital, Lhasa. Of the Golmud to Lhasa line, more than 960 km, or over 80% of the railway, is built at an altitude of more than 4,000 m, making it the world's highest railway. There are 675 bridges on the line totalling 159.88 km, and over half the length of the railway is laid on permafrost.