The Hindu Business Line : China's Tibet railway to be extended to Xigaze

SHANGHAI: China's newly-built railway to Tibet will be extended some 270 km from Lhasa to the region's second largest city of Xigaze, close to the Indian border, next year, a local official has said.

The project is expected to take three years, the executive vice commissioner with the Administrative Office of Xigaze Prefecture in Tibet Autonomous Region, Yu Yungui said in Lhasa, Tibet's capital.

"The railway will offer great opportunities for the social and economic development of Xigaze," Yu said.

About 3,500 tourists have visited Xigaze every day since July 1 when the Qinghai-Tibet railway opened, and all the hotels in the city have been fully occupied, he said.

The city of Xigaze, located at an altitude of about 3,800 metres, is the traditional seat of the Panchen Lama, and the prefecture is also an important production base for agriculture and animal husbandry in Tibet.

The Xigaze prefecture borders India, Nepal and Bhutan in the south.

The Qinghai-Tibet Railway stretches 1,956 kilometres from Xining, capital of northwest China's Qinghai Province, to Lhasa.

The railway linked Tibet with the rest of the country for the first time, making it easier and cheaper to visit the Himalayan region. - PTI

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