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Starting in Xining in Central China, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway is one of the most unique rail routes in the world as it traverses mountains along the Tibet Plateau on its way to the city of Lhasa. This railway route represented the first rail connection the province of Tibet had to other provinces in China. While portions of the rail route have been operating since the 1980s, the full extent of the line was not completed until 2006 due to the fact that Tibet (and the capital city of Lhasa) are at such high elevations, which causes construction difficulties. Today, the full length of the track is about 1,215 miles as it zig-zags through mountainous terrain.
For other maps on railway routes, check out posts on the Lausanne Metro and the Winter Park Express!
See the interactive Google Map at the bottom of the post!
Three key facts about this map
The Qinghai-Tibet Railway has the highest railway station in the world
One particular stop along the railway route, Tanggula, is noted to be the highest railway station in the world by elevation. Sitting at 16,627ft above sea level, when this railway station opened in 2006 it dethroned other high-altitude railway stations around the world, including:
- Condor station on the Rio Mulatos-Potosi line (Bolivia) – 15,702 ft in elevation
- La Galera station on the Ferrocarril Central Andino line from Lima to Huancayo (Peru) – 15,681 ft in elevation
However, the title of “station” might be a slight misnomer since that implies there are passengers embarking and disembarking. At Tanggula Station disembarking the train is apparently forbidden. The station building is also unstaffed. Often trains will hold at the station waiting for other trains from the other direction to pass.
Most of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway is above 13,000 ft (~4,000 m)
Due to the rugged terrain that the route must pass through to connect Xinang and Lhasa, most of the railroad is constructed at above 13,000 ft in elevation. The elevation poses significant construction issues as the sections traversing mountain passes are mainly built on almost-permanent permafrost.
Apparently in summer months, the higher temperature melts the upper layers of the permafrost creating instability in the ground. Furthermore, heat from trains passing overhead also can melt permafrost even during the colder months. There are several solutions that construction engineers leveraged to work around this issue:
- Built embankments of rocks to elevate the train above the permafrost on the ground, creating a rock barrier between the tracks and the ground
- Built raised tracks for certain portions that are high-risk of shifting foundations due to temperature changes in the permafrost
As global warming continues to impact all aspects of our environment, there will continue to be issues in the future with the Qinghai-Tibet Railway as permafrost dissipates and leaves unstable ground conditions along the rail route.
Oxygen sources are needed for passengers riding along the route
Due to its elevation above 13,000 ft for a large portion of the route, trains are equipped with oxygen sources for each passenger and there is reportedly a doctor on-board each journey. Passengers are also required to enroll with a “Passenger Health Registration Card” and read/agree to health notices prior to travelling the Golmud — Lhasa portion of the route.
Additional links and sources
- Blog post about Tanggula Railway Station, the highest in the world (link, published in 2017)
- Article about construction of the railway on permafrost (link)
- Blog about a traveller riding on the railway route (link, published in 2016)
Have you ever travelled on the Qinghai-Tibet Railway?
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