The trains riding on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are themselves showcases of cutting edge technology.

Two oxygen supply systems have been installed on the train. One is a "dispersion-mode" oxygen supply system, with oxygen spreading in the railway car through the air-conditioning system.

The other system, like that of an airplane, offers each passenger individual access to oxygen, and passengers who experience breathing difficulties at high altitudes can use a pipe to suck up more oxygen.

Meanwhile, all railway cars are equipped with double-layer glass, which is covered with anti-ultraviolet radiation film.

The trains running on the Qinghai-Tibet Railway are driven by engines made by US-based General Electric, which show great traction and brake power, low power cost and high reliability, said Zhu Zhensheng, vice-director of the Ministry of Railways office in charge of the new line.

The government will spend 13 million yuan (US$1.6 million) on an earthquake warning system along the southern section of the railway.

Two comprehensive seismic monitoring stations and a global positioning system observation centre would be constructed along the Golmud-Lhasa section to form an alarm network with the existing monitoring station at Nagqu Township, said Peng Fengshan, head of the Tibet Autonomous Regional Seismological Bureau.

"The Golmud-Lhasa section of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway passes through a region where moderate quakes measuring up to six on the Richter scale occur annually," said Peng.

(China Daily 07/03/2006 page2)