China opens new railway to Tibet
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Tibet’s first electrified railway, linking the region’s capital, Lhasa, with the city of Nyingchi, is part of what Beijing calls the “project of the century” – building Tibet’s second rail link with China’s interior
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SICHUAN-TIBET RAILWAY

Length: ~1,900km 
Completion: 2030

Maximum speed: 160-200km/h

Travel time: Cut from 48 to 13 hours
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1 Lhasa-Nyingchi
Length: 435km
Completion: 2021 
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2 Nyingchi-Ya’an
Length: 1,344km
Completion: 2030
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3 Ya’an-Chengdu 
Length: 140km
Completion: 2018
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XINJIANG

TIBET
Golmud
Shigatse  
NEPAL 
2014 Lhasa
BHUTAN
INDIA
BANGLADESH
1 2 3
YUNNAN
Chengdu 
Ya’an
GUIZHOU
QINGHAI
Nyingchi
CHINA 
SICHUAN
MYANMAR

Qinghai-Tibet Railway: First rail link opened 2006

Qinghai-Tibet Railway is world’s highest railway line

200km 125 miles
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Arunachal Pradesh: New railway runs close to India’s northeastern-most state – partly claimed by China
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Critics say railways spur influx of migrants who threaten cultural integrity of Tibet
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Sources: The Economist, China Discovery
Pictures: Newscom, Google
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