Tunnel completed for Sichuan-Tibet Railway

The Sichuan-Tibet Railway's first tunnel - that runs more than 16 kilometers along the canyon area of the plateau - managed to cut through on Wednesday under extremely high temperatures, Xinhua News Agency reported.

The 16.4-km Samdrubling Tunnel in Sangri county of the Tibet autonomous region, which passes through the Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon, is an important section on the railway that will link Lhasa and Chengdu, according to China Railway Corp.

More than 1,200 workers had toiled on the project since December 2014. They had to overcome many difficulties and dangers, including rock bursts - violent and spontaneous fracturing of the rock.