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On July 1st, 2006, Qinghai-Tibet Railway was formally opened to traffic, which started the history of trains shuttling in “the roof of the world”.
Dreams of a railway to Tibet were included in Dr. Sun Yat-sen's aim in 1912 to build 100,000 km. of track across the entire country. Since the formation of the Tibetan Autonomous Region in early 1950s, the Chinese government pursued Dr. Sun's dream of a railway to Tibet. Engineers were sent to investigate the possibility, but shortage of technology and money prevented the project from starting.
The 815 km section from Xining, Qinghai to Golmud, Qinghai opened to traffic in 1984. Construction of the remaining 1,142 km section from Golmud to Lhasa could not be started until the recent economic growth of China. This section was formally started on June 29, 2001. This section was finished on October 12, 2005, and signalling work and track testing took another eight months. It was completed in five years at a cost of $3.68 billion.
Track-laying in Tibet was launched from both directions, towards Tanggula Mountain and Lhasa, from Anduo 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.
The inclemency of weather in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau with anoxic atmosphere and low temperature makes railway construction so difficult. How could workers to complete this almost “impossible mission”” In order to solve these problems, the participative units set up 115 “tertiary care” organizations, with more than 600 medical staff. Anyone who gets silk will receive treatment in half an hour. Meanwhile, all workers will have a regular body check-up and have holidays by turns. The air in Tibet is much thinner, having 35% to 40% less oxygen than at sea level. Special passenger carriages are used, and several oxygen factories were built along the railway. At this altitude in these latitudes, water in toilets must be heated to prevent freezing. Under the strong medical care system, there was no construction worker died during the construction due to altitude sickness related diseases.
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There were and are many technical difficulties for such a railway. About half of the second section was built on barely permanent permafrost. In the summer, the uppermost layer thaws, and the ground becomes muddy. Chinese engineers dealt with this problem by building elevated tracks with foundations sunk deep into the ground, building hollow concrete pipes beneath the tracks to keep the rail bed frozen, and using metal sun shades. Similar to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System portions of the track are also passively cooled with ammonia based heat exchangers.
Qingshuihe River Superlarge Bridge stretches 11.7km to Keke Xili (Hoh Xil) Nature Reserve, a paradise for wildlife and inhabited by a number of valuable and rare species wild animals. In order to solve the problem of the permanent permafrost here and protect the natural reserve, the engineers decided to design a railway bridge. Under the huge winding bridge, there are more than 1300 bridge openings for wild animals to pass through.
Since the date July 3rd, 2006, trains from Beijing, Chengdu and other 3 inland cities have entered Lhasa. In the future, the qinghai-Tibet Railway will expand to other regions in Tibet such as Shigatse, Nyingchi, aiming to become the international trade channel connecting southern Asia.