Passenger rail service to Lhasa gets boost
Source: Xinhua |
July 2, 2012, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINA will increase passenger train services from major cities to Lhasa to cope with a travel surge that has rippled across the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau since a landmark railway opened six years ago, railway officials said on Sunday.
Trains will travel daily between Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, and Lhasa starting from July 9, said Wang Tao, a spokesman for the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Company. Chengdu-Lhasa trains also will soon follow the same schedule.
Seven major Chinese cities currently have Lhasa-bound trains. All are expected to operate on a daily basis in the future, Wang said. Among them, Beijing, Shanghai and Xining already have daily trains to Lhasa.
The Qinghai-Tibet Railway, spanning 1,956 km from Xining to Lhasa, has transported 52.76 million passengers since it started on July 1, 2006, said Bao Chuxiong, general manager of Qinghai-Tibet Railway Co.
Bao said railway has become the "first choice" for most Tibet travelers. The number of Qinghai-Tibet Railway travelers has grown by about 10 percent annually, he said. Last year, it hit 10.6 million, up 65.6 percent compared with 2006.
But the increase has strained railway operators, as there are not enough oxygenated trains to meet demand, said Ma Xiaojun, another official with the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Co.
Because of low oxygen content on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, trains traveling on the railway have to use sealed and oxygenated train cars. Currently, all Lhasa-bound passengers board oxygenated trains from the departure city, but this arrangement will become impossible when all services are offered on a daily basis, Ma said.
Starting this month, passengers on Guangzhou-Lhasa trains will need to switch from ordinary trains to oxygenated trains at the Xining railway station, like transferring between flights in an airport, he said.
"The mass transfer, usually involving hundreds or even thousands of passengers, is really a scene to watch," the official said. "The railway station operators have undergone many drills to be prepared."
Railway officials said that if the transfers work properly, efforts to increase Lhasa-bound train services will be expedited so that people can easily ride a train to Tibet from any Chinese city connected to the country's railway network.
Trains will travel daily between Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, and Lhasa starting from July 9, said Wang Tao, a spokesman for the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Company. Chengdu-Lhasa trains also will soon follow the same schedule.
Seven major Chinese cities currently have Lhasa-bound trains. All are expected to operate on a daily basis in the future, Wang said. Among them, Beijing, Shanghai and Xining already have daily trains to Lhasa.
The Qinghai-Tibet Railway, spanning 1,956 km from Xining to Lhasa, has transported 52.76 million passengers since it started on July 1, 2006, said Bao Chuxiong, general manager of Qinghai-Tibet Railway Co.
Bao said railway has become the "first choice" for most Tibet travelers. The number of Qinghai-Tibet Railway travelers has grown by about 10 percent annually, he said. Last year, it hit 10.6 million, up 65.6 percent compared with 2006.
But the increase has strained railway operators, as there are not enough oxygenated trains to meet demand, said Ma Xiaojun, another official with the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Co.
Because of low oxygen content on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, trains traveling on the railway have to use sealed and oxygenated train cars. Currently, all Lhasa-bound passengers board oxygenated trains from the departure city, but this arrangement will become impossible when all services are offered on a daily basis, Ma said.
Starting this month, passengers on Guangzhou-Lhasa trains will need to switch from ordinary trains to oxygenated trains at the Xining railway station, like transferring between flights in an airport, he said.
"The mass transfer, usually involving hundreds or even thousands of passengers, is really a scene to watch," the official said. "The railway station operators have undergone many drills to be prepared."
Railway officials said that if the transfers work properly, efforts to increase Lhasa-bound train services will be expedited so that people can easily ride a train to Tibet from any Chinese city connected to the country's railway network.
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