The Sichuan-Tibet Railway will be the second railway line to Tibet after the Qinghai-Tibet Railway project. It will cross the southeast of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau, one of the most geologically active areas in the world, according to Chinese official media.
The Sichuan-Tibet Railway departs from Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, crosses Ya’an and enters Tibet via Qamdo, shortening the journey from Chengdu to Lhasa from 48 hours to 13 hours.
Linzhi, also known as Nyingchi, is located near the Arunachal Pradesh border.
The border dispute between India and China covers the 3,488 km long Royal Line of Control, the de facto border between the two countries. China claims that Arunachal Pradesh is part of southern Tibet, which is firmly rejected by India. Linzhi also has an airport which is one of the five airports built by China in the Himalayan region.
The Ya’an-Linzhi section covers 1,011 km with 26 stations. The trains are expected to run at speeds of between 120 and 200 km per hour. The total cost of the entire Sichuan-Tibet rail project is about 319.8 billion yuan ($ 47.8 billion), according to a recent state-run Global Times report.
In a video conference, before the start of construction on the project, Xi identified it as an important measure to facilitate the ruling Communist Party’s overall plan to rule Tibet in the new era. Agencies
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