E-Paper
China plans railways near Indian border in Tibet
The new lines would link the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, with Nyingchi to the east, and Xigaze to the west.
China will build three more railway lines in Tibet, including one close to the Sino-Indian border, as extensions of the newly-completed Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the state media reported on Thursday.
The new lines would link the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, with Nyingchi to the east, and Xigaze to the west, while the third will link Xigaze with Yadong, a major trading town on the China-India border, the official People's Daily said in its overseas edition.
The report did not cite a source, but an earlier report by the China News Service quoted an official with the Tibet Autonomous Region.
The new lines would be built in 10 years, and increase Tibet's total railway length to more than 2,000 kilometres, the report said.
The Qinghai-Tibet Railway, running more than 1,100 kilometres from Gormo in neighbouring Qinghai Province to Lhasa, will open on July 1.
It is believed the first railway in Tibet will greatly boost the development of Tibet and its exchanges with other Chinese regions as well as border trade with neighbouring India, vice director of an office in charge of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway under the Ministry of Railways, Zhu Zhensheng said.
Zhu said this when asked to comment on the impact of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway on the border trade between China and India through the Nathu La border trade route which is scheduled to reopen after 44 years on July 6.
