The Qinghai-Tibet Railway is the highest mountain railway in the world. The most unusual railways Railway to Tibet in China

Sealed carriages, oxygen masks for each passenger, specially designed locomotives, endless overpasses on permafrost and dozens of deserted stations against the backdrop of snow-capped mountain peaks - all this is unique to the Qinghai-Tibet Railway in China. Its length is 1956 km, the average height is more than 4 thousand meters above sea level.

It became the highest and longest highland railway in the world.

The highway project was approved in 1960, but construction was frozen for almost 15 years. Only in 1974 did they begin to build the first section of the railway: 814 km were built in five years by the army and prisoners. The grand opening took place on July 1, 2006.

Construction of the second section was particularly challenging. About 80% of this section of the route passed through difficult high mountain areas at an altitude of over 4 thousand meters above sea level.

About 550 km had to pass through the permafrost zone. During the short summer period, the top layer of earth here thaws, turning into an impassable swamp. This could lead to path deformation. Therefore, the designers developed an individual railway layout. The rails were laid on a special embankment of cobblestones covered with sand. Pipes were passed through the embankment for ventilation, and the slopes were covered with metal sheets that protected from sunlight and prevented heating.

Wells with liquid nitrogen were installed in some areas. All this made it possible to freeze the embankment under the road and avoid heating the upper layer of permafrost.

To avoid sudden changes in elevation, a significant part of the highway runs along overpasses. 675 bridges were built along the entire route. The overpass supports are piles that go so deep into the permafrost that seasonal thawing of the top layer does not cause the structure to become unstable.

In addition, the overpasses do not interfere with the free movement of representatives of local fauna under the highway.

The Tibet Railway set several records for railway construction. There are two unique tunnels here.

Fenghuoshan is the highest mountain tunnel in the world. It was built at an altitude of 4.9 thousand meters above sea level. And the Kunlun tunnel is considered the longest in the world, built in high-altitude permafrost.

There are 45 stations along the entire route. Of these, 38 are automatic, that is, without maintenance personnel. Their work is coordinated from the control center of the entire road in Xining, a city district in the Qinghai province of China.

The Tang-La station on the mountain pass of the same name is considered an attraction. It is located at an altitude of 5068 meters and is the highest railway station in the world. It is fully automated. There are no settlements nearby. Despite this, the Chinese built a fairly large station here, worthy of a record-breaking station.

In most cases, the doors of the carriages here do not even open. For an unprepared person to be at such a height where the atmospheric pressure is very low is dangerous to health.

For the unique railway, special trains were developed designed to operate in high mountain conditions.

All cars are hermetically sealed from the environment. Air-conditioned carriages are equipped with a special oxygen pumping system. Despite this, passengers experience attacks of altitude sickness caused by a lack of oxygen. For this purpose, each place is equipped with an individual oxygen mask.

The windows in the cars are tinted and coated with a special compound that protects passengers from excess solar radiation.

The carriages are divided into three classes familiar to us - seated, reserved seat and compartment. The trains have dining cars.

Trains reach speeds of up to 120 km/h, but in permafrost zones their speed is limited to 100 km/h.

The line's capacity is 8 trains per day, not counting freight trains. Now Lhasa is connected by regular passenger traffic not only with the neighboring regional center of Xining, but also with the country's largest cities - Beijing and Shanghai. The journey from Lhasa to Beijing takes 48 hours.

This is the highest mountain railway in the world. "Road to the roof of the world" - Train to the roof of the world. Connects the administrative center of Tibet - the city of Lhasa via Golmud and Xining with the rest of the country's railway network.

The railway to Tibet has been planned for a long time. Back in 1958, Mao Zedong ordered to consider the possibility of building a railway to the Tibet Autonomous Region, despite the fact that no one then had experience in building railways in such, without exaggeration, extreme conditions.


Work on the first phase of construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway began in 1960. By 1962, the documentation was fully developed and approved. Construction was carried out by prisoners - thus fulfilling the task of reducing costs as much as possible. In 1979, a railway track came to Golmud. Although the construction of a road further into the mountains was approved, health complications for construction prisoners associated with oxygen deprivation, as well as the fact that a significant part of the road would be built in permafrost conditions, forced construction to be stopped.

In the early years, the Xining-Golmud section was used exclusively by the military, and only in 1984 was it opened to passenger traffic. At this point, the construction of the railway to the capital of Tibet stopped for more than 10 years...

In the second half of the 90s, the government of the country gave instructions to adjust the route of the designed line, as well as conduct new studies in terms of the economic feasibility of its construction. The result of this was the fact that in February 2001, the Chinese government approved the continuation of construction of the highway, declaring its completion one of the state priorities.

On July 29, 2001, from two ends, from Lhasa and from Golmud, detachments of builders moved towards each other. At the same time, the section of the first stage, Xining - Golmud, underwent major modernization: a major overhaul of some engineering structures was carried out, the alarm system was updated, which made it possible to significantly increase the throughput of the section.


On October 15, 2005, construction of the railway was completed. Despite the fact that this event was widely covered in the press, including in the world, for Tibet this did not yet mean the presence of a direct connection via rails with the rest of the world: the builders requested a few more months to run in and debug the operation of the line. This continued for another 15 months.

And finally, on July 1, 2006, regular passenger traffic opened along the entire Qinghai-Tibet Railway. The entire journey from Beijing to Lhasa takes 48 hours.




From a technical point of view, the construction of the second stage of the road was extremely difficult. 80% of the road passes at an altitude of more than 4000 meters above sea level, of which 160 kilometers at altitudes of 4000 - 4500 meters, 780 kilometers at altitudes of 4500 - 5000 meters and 20 kilometers of the line passes at an altitude of more than 5000 meters.

The highest railway station is Tangula Pass. It is located at an altitude of 5068 meters above sea level. This is the highest railway station in the world. Not far from it, trains pass the highest point of the route - 5072 meters.




There is neither a city nor a village near the station. Trains stop here infrequently, while passenger cars always remain closed - passengers are prohibited from going onto the platform: after all, at this altitude, the percentage of oxygen in the air ranges from 60% to 40% compared to sea level. When the opening ceremony of the highway took place, many journalists required medical assistance. Medical workers still accompany passenger trains today.


Another serious problem that the builders faced was permafrost. 640 kilometers of line are located in such conditions. At the same time, it is worth noting that the permafrost in Tibet is special, high-altitude. It has some differences from the permafrost so familiar to us in northern latitudes. However, Russian engineers were invited to solve problems that arose during construction, because our country has a lot of experience in constructing railways in similar geological conditions, primarily during the construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline. The experience of our engineers also came in handy during tunnel construction. On the Qinghai-Tibet Highway there is the highest tunnel in the world, at an altitude of 4905 meters, and the longest tunnel is more than 3300 meters at an altitude of 4264 meters, 80 kilometers from the final destination - Lhasa.


Storms often occur in these places. In some cases, wind speeds can reach 150 kilometers per hour. Half of the highway is located in a seismic zone: earthquakes with a magnitude of 8 or more are observed here.

Technical characteristics of the line: length 1142 kilometers, 965 kilometers at an altitude of more than 4000 meters, maximum slopes of 20 thousandths, minimum radii of curves 600 meters, vertical - 800 meters. Estimated speed of movement is 100 kilometers per hour. 7 tunnels and 675 bridges, with a total length of almost 160 kilometers. The line is single-track with sidings, non-electrified. But at the same time, groundwork has been made for the possible electrification of the line in the future, as well as for increasing speeds.


A separate line of project implementation was ecology. A significant part of the bridges located on the line are made for the unhindered passage of animals under them. Sound-absorbing technologies are also used.


The passenger cars were specially designed by Bombardier for the Chinese Railways. The cars are completely sealed and designed for speeds of up to 120 km/h. The carriages have three classes: seated, reserved seat and luxury. The inscriptions are duplicated everywhere in Tibetan, Chinese and English. Under each passenger compartment there is a connector for connecting an oxygen tube and an oxygen control panel. In case of sudden depressurization, individual oxygen masks are automatically folded back. Diesel locomotives for the line were produced in Pennsylvania at the General Electric factories.








Dining car.

Railways were and are being built everywhere, regardless of the terrain. It is known about the highest and most dangerous highway, about the longest and shortest road.

The most dangerous railway

Many railway lines can be called dangerous, but the most dangerous is the road located in Argentina. Its name is Tren a las Nubes, which translates as “Train to the clouds.” During the journey, the road passes through tunnels, bridges, zigzags, descents and ascents. Tourists traveling along the route, which lasts fifteen hours, experience fear as the carriages literally make their way through the clouds. The train often slows down and slips, which is an additional reason for passengers to worry.

Moving along the banks of the canyons, the train crosses them on steel bridges that seem weightless. It ends its journey at an altitude of four thousand meters. The most famous place on the route is the ancient viaduct, built in 1930. During the trip, the train goes through two zigzag climbs, overcomes twenty-nine bridges, twenty-one tunnels and twelve viaducts, and turns three hundred and sixty degrees several times.

Train passengers are on the verge of hysterics during a trip over one of the deepest canyons in Argentina, the depth of which is seventy meters. The train moves across the rickety bridge for an interminable five minutes.

The shortest railway

This year, the Pope allowed everyone to use their own railway. We are talking about a road connecting the station in Rome with the station in the Vatican. This railway was built back in 1934 in order to deliver the Pontiff from the Vatican to Rome. All these years it was available for use only by the current dad. Now, for forty euros, anyone can use it.

The length of the railway track between stations is only one kilometer, two hundred and seventy meters. It starts behind St. Peter's Basilica and passes several landmarks of the city-state - the Second Vatican Council, the Vatican Gardens, the Sextine Chapel, and numerous museums.

The highest mountain railway

Railroad tracks do not always run across plains. Often their construction is carried out in mountainous areas, over canyons or over the water expanses of the seas. The highest mountain railway is considered to be the one running from the Chinese province of Qinghai to the Autonomous Region of Tibet. Its length is almost two kilometers.

The highest point of this road is at an altitude of five thousand seventy-two meters. Since at this altitude the atmospheric pressure is up to forty percent of normal, trains on this route are equipped with oxygen masks.

Construction took several decades due to many obstacles - high mountain ranges, thin air, permafrost. Thanks to the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet road, remote provinces received a powerful boost to economic development.

The longest railway in the world

The title of the longest railway in the world is given to the Trans-Siberian Railway or Trans-Siberian Railway. For many years this road has remained in first place in terms of length. Its length is nine thousand two hundred eighty-eight kilometers.

The giant highway, passing through the territory of Russia, connects the European part of the continent with the Far East, the Urals, Siberia, and connects ports in the south and west. The construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway was determined by the need for uniform socio-economic development of a huge country.

Construction began in 1891, when the first stone was laid. The end of construction can be considered the year 1904, when a railway connection appeared between Vladivostok and St. Petersburg. Despite the opening of the Trans-Siberian Railway, construction work continued for many years, until 1938, when the second track was laid. Not only railways are amazing, but also the trains that run on them. There is a website on the site that mentions underwater, oldest, longest and other interesting trains.
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On July 1, the opening ceremony of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway took place in China. The city of Golmud, Qinghai Province, became the main location for the ceremony dedicated to this event. Listen to our correspondent's report from Gomuda. Chinese President Hu Jintao attended the opening ceremony and gave a speech. He said that the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway will go down in construction history.

The total length of the Qihai-Tibet Railway from Xining to Lhasa is 1,956 kilometers, with an average altitude of over 4,000 meters above sea level. Previously, the main means of transport here was the road and airline from the inland cities of China to Tibet.
Once the road is opened, the number of tourists to Tibet will increase rapidly. However, the local government has already developed measures to protect cultural values ​​and nature. Permafrost was one of the most difficult problems during the construction of the Qihai-Tibet Railway. Here it stretches for more than 550 kilometers. When laying the Qihai-Tibet Railway track, Chinese specialists used the method of laying a special layer of crushed stone between the track and the permafrost layer to prevent its thawing.

The builders of the Qihai-Tibet Railway worked in a harsh climate. The temperature sometimes reached minus 45 degrees. The number of days with strong wind was up to 160 days per year. In addition, the lack of oxygen at such an altitude was a serious problem. During construction, special attention was paid to nature conservation. There are 33 special passages for wild animals along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway. An employee of the Venga reserve said: “We told the railway builders where wild animals often pass and advised them to build appropriate passages for the animals. In the first days, when the relocation of animals began, we advised the builders to stop work for 2-3 days. After the animals passed, they Construction has started again."

The opening of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway has fulfilled the dreams and hopes of many people. Religious leader Neda, who has the status of a "living Buddha" in the Tibetan Bon religion, expressed his best wishes for the railway in words taken from Buddhist canons. He said: “The Qinghai-Tibet Railway, like a golden dragon, brings happiness and prosperity to the people. I wish the Tibetan people and all other nationalities of China good luck and happiness, I wish this railway to work for their benefit, so that passengers and goods on it "We have always been safe and prosperous. I wish fruitful work and success to all those who wish to open their own business in Tibet and good luck and prosperity to those who are planning to do business in the interior of the country."

The total length of this road, connecting the administrative centers of Qinghai Province and the Tibet Autonomous Region - the cities of Xining and Lhasa - is 1956 kilometers. The length of the newly built Golmud-Lhasa section is 1142 kilometers along the Kun-Lun and Tangla mountains. More than 550 kilometers of the route pass through the high-mountain tundra zone. 960 kilometers are laid at an altitude of over 4000 meters above sea level, with the highest point reaching 5072 meters.

Tangla station has become the highest station in the world: it is located at an altitude of 5068 meters. Punched at an altitude of 4905 meters, the Fenghuoshan tunnel is the highest in the world, and the Kunlun tunnel, 1686 meters long, is the longest tunnel built in the high-mountain tundra zone, Xinhua reports.

The maximum speed of trains in the high-mountain tundra zone will be 100 km/h, in other areas up to 120 km/h. Each carriage is provided with additional oxygen to prevent oxygen starvation. Protection from solar radiation is also provided. Information on electronic screens installed in each train car is transmitted in three languages ​​at once: Chinese, Tibetan and English.

In the initial version of the schedule, three pairs of passenger trains will run on the new road: Beijing - Lhasa, Chongqing - Chengdu - Lhasa, Lanzhou - Xining - Lhasa. The journey from Beijing will take exactly two days. Ticket prices range from 389 to 1262 yuan ($49-158) depending on the class of carriage.

The Qinghai-Tibet Railway, 1,100 kilometers long, was built in uninhabited and deserted areas. 550 kilometers of this road were built in the permafrost zone of the highlands. The construction of such a railway has not yet been known in either the Chinese or world history of railway construction. However, a million-strong army of builders, showing an innovative spirit and adhering to a scientific approach, was able to overcome the difficulties of construction and successfully solve the most complex technical problems of construction in permafrost conditions, which are of a global nature.

Frozen soil refers to the various layers of Earth and soil that contain pieces of ice. Frozen soil increases in volume when frozen, and in summer, when the ice melts, it decreases in volume. The variable state of such soil leads to the destruction of the railway track, the appearance of cracks on it or buildings. According to Russian data from 1994, in the 70s of the 20th century, during the construction of the second Trans-Siberian Railway, 27.5% of the railway track suffered from various negative influences of the soil. According to Chinese data from 1990, this figure on the Qinghai-Tibet Highway is 31.7%. Due to the negative effects of frozen soil in the world, trains on such railways can only travel at a speed of no more than 50 kilometers.

The Qinghai-Tibet Railway passes through the Kunlong and Tangla Mountains. The highest point of the road is at an altitude of 5072 meters above sea level. The construction conditions were very difficult - the presence of wetlands, frozen soil, high ground surface temperatures in summer. All these were the most difficult technological difficulties.

Although Canada, Russia and other countries also have frozen soil, due to the fact that they are located at high latitudes, such soil is more durable and stable. And on sections of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway from Geermu to Lhasa, due to the low latitude and altitude of the area, high solar radiation, the frozen soil has its own complex properties. The world's highest tunnel was built in permafrost. The length of the tunnel was 1338 meters, the railway track was located at an altitude of 4905 meters above sea level. From this we can judge how many complex technical problems were resolved, and under what difficult conditions the construction of this railway took place.

The Qinghai–Tibet railway the highest mountain railway in the world, connecting the city of Xining, the capital of Qinghai province, and through it the whole of Mainland China, with the administrative center of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) - the city.

1. Actually, the train itself. (Photo taken January 2008):

The first half of the first day on the road, in general, does not present anything interesting: the endless steppes of Inner Mongolia, wide Chinese rivers, the web of the Chinese railway.

2. Second day of the journey. Tunnel:

3. This is what the city of Xining looks like from the train:

4. This lake is called Kukunor in Russian and Mongolian, in Tibetan - Tso Ngonpo, in Chinese - Qinghai:

5. Small Buddhist monastery in Eastern Tibet (Amdo region):

The road builders had to face many technical difficulties. First of all, these are areas of permafrost (permafrost zone). Approximately half of the Golmud-Lhasa section is built on cryolithozones. In summer, the top layer of soil melts and the ground turns into liquid mud. To solve this problem, some areas had to be filled with large amounts of stones and rubble, and the most vulnerable areas had to be raised onto bridges.

6. Engineering structures along the road:

7. Here it is, the highest mountain section of the railway in the world, Tang La Pass, height - 5072 m:

8. Martian landscapes of the Tibetan Plateau:

9. Tibetan high mountain village. There are many of these along the way:

Construction of the Golmud–Lhasa section was completed in October 2005, and the first train was launched in July 2006. Construction of the road continues: in 2013, the opening of the Lhasa - Shigatse section was announced, the project is estimated at 13.3 billion yuan (approx. 2.2 billion dollars). Plans for the construction of sections Lhasa - Nyingchi (a district in Western Tibet), Lhasa - Kathmandu, and even Lhasa - Calcutta are being discussed.

10. Building bridges and good roads in Tibet is not an easy task:

11. This is what our train looks like from the outside:

12. Lake Hang Tso:

13. Samdan Kangsam mountain range, the highest point of the ridge - 6590 m:

14. In some places, Tibetan landscapes resemble the Arctic:

15. A few more Martian landscapes:

16. Tibetan Plateau:

17. Passengers:

18. Lhasa Railway Station:

19. The air in Tibet is rarefied, the partial pressure of oxygen is 35% - 40% lower than at sea level, so all carriages are equipped with oxygen masks. "Life support system" in a railway carriage:

The trains are specially designed for high altitudes: locomotives by the American company GE, passenger cars by the Chinese corporation Bombardier Sifang Transportation (BSP).