BIZCHINA / Biz News
Qinghai-Tibet luxury trains to roll
By Cao Desheng (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-12-12 05:23
People will get to see the beautiful scenery of mysterious Tibet on the
Qinghai-Tibet Plateau aboard a luxury train by the end of 2007.
According to an agreement signed on Saturday in Beijing, the
Qinghai-Tibet Railway Corporation and the Railpartners Inc of the United
States will set up a joint venture to operate the tour business.
The train will run 2,040 kilometres from Xining, capital of Northwest
China's Qinghai Province, to Lhasa, capital of the Tibet Autonomous
Region in Southwest China. The tour will be part of the nation's gigantic
Qinghai-Tibet Railway project.
It will take three days to complete the one-way travel, and rail stations
are built near scenic spots, a Qinghai-Tibet Corporation release said.
With the railway open to traffic from July 1 next year, scenic spots on
the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau such as Qinghai Lake, the Kekexili Nature
Reserve, Potala Palace and the Taer Lamasery the sacred place of Tibetan
Buddhism will be linked together.
Zhang Shuguang, director of the transport bureau of the Ministry of
Railways, said it will take only 48 hours to travel from Beijing to Lhasa
once the railway is open next year.
"Given that the railway is located at an average altitude of 4,500 metres
above sea level, trains including sleeping carriages, a dining carriage
and domed carriages will be equipped with an oxygen system to combat the
thin air," Zhang told reporters.
He added that an oxygen mask would be available for every passenger to
avoid altitude sickness.
"A rubbish disposal system will also be installed in trains running on
the route to prevent the local environment from being polluted," Zhang
said.
The Qinghai-Tibet Railway, which connects Tibet with the rest of China,
was completed in October after four years of construction. It is the
track with the highest elevation in the world.
China has hailed the railway as an important project in contributing to
the balance of the nation's as well as the region's development.
It will certainly help the region's tourism industry as Tibet is an
attractive tourist destination to domestic and international travellers.
Besides Beijing, major cities such as Chengdu, capital of Southwest
China's Sichuan Province, and Guangzhou, capital of South China's
Guangdong Province, will also start rail traffic to Lhasa from July 1.
The luxurious rail travel line will target high-end customers from both
home and abroad, particularly train devotees from Europe and North
America, the Ministry of Railways said. Travel agencies will sell tour
packages that include the train ride.
Also on Saturday, Railpartners Inc signed an agreement on purchasing
luxury tourist trains with the train producers Bombardier-Sifang-Power
(Qingdao) transportation Ltd and the CSR Sifang Locomotive and Rolling
Stock Co Ltd.
(China Daily 12/12/2005 page2)
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