The National Development and Reform Commission recently approved the construction of a second line along the Xining-Golmud section of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway.

On the basis of existing emergency facilities, the second line will run 356 kilometers, and the project also includes the electrification of the whole line.

This addition will be a two-way line built according to the Class A criteria of national railways. Trains are designed to run at 160 kilometers per hour, driven by electric power. The carrying capacity would be 40 passenger trains per day and 50 million tons of cargo per year.

Some 10.1 million yuan has been invested in this project (not including the cost of the emergency project), which will take five years to complete.

By People's Daily Online