Qinghai–Tibet Railway
Ferrocarril Qinghai–Tíbet
- Date
- 1 de julio de 2006 · confidence high
- Place
- Tanggula Pass, Tibet, China
- Credited to
- China's Ministry of Railways
- Field
- Movement
What it is
A 1,956 km line between Xining and Lhasa that crosses the Tanggula Pass at 5,072 m, the highest railway altitude in the world. It solved the permafrost problem with thermosyphon embankments and viaducts, and it uses pressurised, oxygen-enriched cars.
The work was done in two phases (Xining–Golmud, 1984; Golmud–Lhasa, 2006); its demographic and political effects in Tibet are debated.
What it led to
- rail connection of Tibet with the rest of China and economic change in the region
- permafrost engineering applied to other polar and high-altitude lines