Inaugural ceremonies on July 1, 2006, marked the opening of the Tibet railway, formally known as the Lhasa-Golmud section of the Qingzang railway which, in its entirety, connects Beijing, China, to Lhasa, Tibet. The Lhasa-Golmud section connects Tibet's traditional capital city, Lhasa, which is in the Tibet Autonomous Region, to Golmud, a city in China's Qinghai Province. The full journey from Lhasa to Beijing takes three days.
The part of the Tibet railway stretches more than 700 miles from Lhasa to Golmud is the highest railway line in the world, in places achieving an altitude that surpasses 13,000 feet above sea level and peaking at an elevation of 16,640 feet at the Tanggula Pass. It travels at speeds of almost 75 miles per hour over vast stretches of permafrost, through tunnels bored through mountain ranges, and over 675 bridges that traverse almost 100 miles.
The Tibet railway diesel locomotives were made by GE in Pennsylvania and it takes three locomotives to pull each train. The cars were made by Bombardier, a company based in Berlin, where each car was equipped with an oxygen supply routed to every seat to help passengers deal with the reduced oxygen in the air at such an extreme altitude. The air at 13,000 feet contains 35% to 40% less oxygen than the air at sea level.
Each car in the Tibet railway system is also specially equipped with protective gear to minimize damage to passengers from the amplified ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun. Again, the altitude and limited oxygen in the air make UV exposure a particular risk. All passengers of the Tibet railway are required to obtain a Passenger Health Registration Card when a ticket is purchased.
The permafrost under more than half the Tibet railway line isn't really permanently frozen. Since the permafrost gets soft and muddy in the summer time, railway tracks over these regions were elevated on foundations that are sunk deep into the ground and contain circulating liquid nitrogen in hollow pipes that are expected to keep the ground nearby constantly sturdy, stable, and frozen. Metal sunshades along the tracks divert sunlight which might further thaw the ground. The technology to maintain the permafrost as global warming takes its toll on the area has yet to be invented.
The Tibet railway passes through an earthquake zone in the Kunlun Mountains where a magnitude 8.1 earthquake was recorded in 2001. The railway is equipped with dozens of earthquake monitors as a precautionary measure.
As with all things pertaining to China and its relationship with Tibet, the Tibet railway is the source of much much protest and outrage. Concerns from people and social organizations around the world cite economic, social, cultural, and environmental issues in protest of the railway's continued operation.