20 years Qinghai-Xizang Railway transforms regional logistics

Engineering and ecology

The logistical efficiency realized by traders and passengers depends on a railway corridor built through some of the world's most hostile terrain. Approximately 960 km of the line run above 4,000 meters, where oxygen levels are roughly 60 percent of those on the plains. About 550 km run across permafrost zones.

For Zhang Delong, a permafrost maintenance specialist at the Golmud railway maintenance depot, the problem is that the ground itself is never entirely still.

"Routine railway maintenance is often built on accumulated experience, but permafrost maintenance is different. Experience alone is not enough, because conditions are changing," Zhang said.

Much of the work, he said, is about keeping permafrost relatively stable. Water must be drained away from the roadbed, while crushed-rock slopes, sun shields and cooling devices help stabilize the foundation.

Zhang compared some of the insulation work to "putting a quilt over the roadbed to keep the heat out".

For Tsering Samdrup, a railway protection worker in Xizang's Amdo county, the difficulty is felt above ground. His patrol section near the northern foot of the Tangula Mountains sits at about 4,700 to 4,800 meters above sea level, where winter temperatures can fall below — 20 C.

When a train passes, protection workers raise their right arms in salute and the driver sounds the horn. Tsering Samdrup calls it "a signal of closeness" between the guards and the train.

"Every time I see a train pass safely through our section, I feel I have done something meaningful," he said.

Crossing a fragile plateau

The railway's story on the plateau is also one of caution.

Liu Lanhua, a researcher at the energy conservation, environmental protection and occupational safety and health research institute of the China Academy of Railway Sciences, said environmental protection was built into the project from the beginning.

"The Qinghai-Xizang Plateau has a unique ecosystem with weak resistance to disturbance and limited self-recovery capacity," Liu said.

The project moved away from the old approach of "building first and treating environmental problems later", he said, and instead emphasized prevention, protection, whole-process control and site-specific measures.

According to China State Railway Group, nearly 60 km of dedicated wildlife passages were arranged along the railway, and their use rate has remained stable at 100 percent.

The Tibetan antelope population has grown from fewer than 20,000 in the early 2000s to more than 70,000. Greening work along the railway has covered more than 1,000 km, the group said.

Jangchub Dorje, deputy director of the forestry and grassland bureau of Amdo, said daily protection work includes clearing wildlife passages, checking sensitive areas, picking up waste and helping damaged grassland recover.

For Tsering Samdrup, the work can be as simple as standing quietly in the right place. In the early years, he said, some animals did not immediately use the passages built for them.

"We do not shout, and we do not chase them," he said. "If they move in the wrong direction, we stand in a line, quietly, like a barrier. Then we guide them toward the bridge opening and let them pass."

The gesture is small, but it captures a larger point: on the plateau, a railway cannot simply cross the land. It has to learn how to live with it.

Completing the loop

Sonam Wangdrak still remembers June 25, 2021, when the Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway opened and Fuxing high-speed trains began running on the plateau. Along the route, he saw people in Lhokha city welcoming the train with traditional dances. When the train reached Nyingchi city, residents greeted it with hada scarves and song.

Today, he often returns to his home county to talk to children about railway work. His hometown, Lhorong in Chamdo city, is also watching railway construction move closer as the Sichuan-Xizang Railway gradually takes shape. Sonam Wangdrak hopes that one day he can drive a train there.

The Qinghai-Xizang Railway has made Xizang closer. But on the plateau, closeness has never been only a transport question. It means opportunity, but also responsibility; wider markets, but also ecological constraints; faster movement, but also more careful protection.

Daqiong and Palden Nyima contributed to this story.

Contact the writer at luowangshu@chinadaily.com.cn

Timeline

1958

Construction begins on the Xining-Golmud section, the first phase of the Qinghai-Xizang Railway. The project is suspended in 1961 because of economic difficulties.

1974

Construction of the Xining-Golmud section resumes, with some 60,000 workers joining the project on the plateau.

September 1979

Track laying is completed on the Xining-Golmud section, allowing provisional operations to begin.

May 1, 1984

The 814-kilometer Xining-Golmud section officially enters operation.

June 29, 2001

Construction begins on the Golmud-Lhasa section, the railway's second phase and its most technically challenging stretch, which requires solutions to permafrost and other high-altitude engineering difficulties.

July 1, 2006

The 1,142-kilometer Golmud-Lhasa section opens to traffic, marking the full operation of the Qinghai-Xizang Railway and ending Xizang's history without rail service.

Aug 16, 2014

The 251-kilometer Lhasa-Shigatse Railway, an extension of the Qinghai-Xizang Railway, opens, further improving Xizang's railway network.

June 25, 2021

The 435-kilometer Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway opens. Fuxing bullet trains make their debut in Xizang, ending the region's history without electrified railways.

SOURCE: CHINA STATE RAILWAY GROUP