Work complete on Lanzhou-Xinjiang passenger rail line

The Xinhua News Agency has reported that the tracks of the Lanzhou-Xinjiang passenger railway line, linking Gansu province with the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region via the Loess Plateau, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and Pamirs, have been laid, with the last section, the Qilian Mountain Tunnel, finished on July 31.

In commenting on the situation, Ren Shaoqiang, vice-director of the China Railway Bureau (Group) Corporation, said, “Now that we’ve completed the last section of the Lanzhou-Xinjiang passenger line, the next thing is to debug the Gansu-Qinghai section from August, and prepare for opening the line.”

In laying the 1,776 kilometers of track, there were many difficulties to overcome, such as the geology of the Qilian Mountain Tunnel No.1 in Qinghai province, where the highest point is about 3,607 meters above sea level.

The new Lanzhou-Xinjiang line is a dedicated line that will take some of the burden off the Lanzhou-Xinjiang Railway by carrying passengers only and it will take people less than 10 hours to travel between Lanzhou and Xinjiang.

The Lanzhou-Xinjiang line, also called the Lanzhou-Xinjiang High-speed Railway, is the first high-speed railway to cross Gansu and Qinghai provinces and the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, and is expected to reach speeds of up to 200 kilometers per hour and to open at the end of 2014.

By Li Xiaoxu and edited by Roger Bradshaw