The Qinghai-Tibet Railway is the highest mountain railway in the world. Qinghai-Tibet Railway Qinghai Tibet Railway

Qinghai-Tibet Railway(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 upper layer The soil melts and the earth 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).

Qinghai-Tibet Railway

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. Railway map of the People's Republic of China.

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 railroad 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 asked health care. 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 construction 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 languages. 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 General Electric factories.

Dining car.

General carriage.

Xining station train station.

Golmud station station.

The end point of the highway is Lhasa station.

Lhasa station platform.

Lhasa station platform.

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. The 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, the health complications of 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 it was only in 1984 that 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 first stage section, Sining-Golmud, underwent major modernization: a major overhaul of some engineering structures was carried out, the alarm system was updated, which significantly increased 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.

The highest railway station is Tangula Pass

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. And a person without special acclimatization and preparation may feel unwell at such an altitude. When the opening ceremony of the highway took place, many journalists required medical assistance. Medical workers 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 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, not 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 seat there is a connector for connecting an oxygen tube and an oxygen control panel. In the event of a sudden depressurization, individual oxygen masks are automatically folded back. Diesel locomotives for the line were produced in Pennsylvania at General Electric factories.

Article source: http://chek-pipinda.livejournal.com/15065.html?thread=24281

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. There is also protection against solar radiation. 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 to either the Chinese or world history railway construction. However, the million-strong army of builders, showing an innovative spirit and adhering to scientific approach, was able to overcome construction difficulties and successfully resolve 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, heat surface of the earth 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-Tibetan Railway from Geermu to Lhasa, due to the low latitude and altitude of the area, high solar radiation, frozen soil has its own extremely 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 idea of ​​visiting Tibet had been exciting my imagination for a long time, and the decisive reason for the implementation of the idea was the opportunity to travel along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway. Each of the huge army of railway workers sometimes becomes a consumer of the services of their native transport, so it was interesting to look at the overseas miracle - the highest mountain railway in the world.

Even before departure, we were sent electronic travel documents: a small (the size of a cigarette pack) pink ticket, from which it was possible (most of the text was typed in Chinese) to understand only the date, time, train number, carriage, seat, departure station and arrival and its cost. You could identify your ticket by the passport number indicated at the bottom left. The tickets themselves should have been given to us upon arrival, but more on that later.
So, suitcase, airport, plane and transfer to Train Station Beijing (there are five in total, four of which are named after parts of the world - southern, northern, eastern and western). Beijing Station is located in the center of the capital, and the huge station square greeted us not just with the usual bustle of a station, but with a crowd of people through which we squeezed, following the movements of the guide.

He ordered us to give him our passports and went with them to a small pavilion located in front of the station building itself. At the ticket window he stamped the original tickets and returned them to us along with our passports. He told us to hold them tightly in our hands and not lose them. Then, in the crowd of the same passengers, we went through the turntable, presenting our passport with ticket to the controller. Almost immediately we find ourselves in open doors station, which can only be entered through baggage screening, as at any airport. We put things on the belt, hand luggage goes there too - praise common sense, there is no need to take off your shoes and jackets. They check the ticket again, and now we are in the holy of holies - at the station itself! Here it should be explained that without a ticket it is not only impossible to travel, but also to go to the station; the check is quite serious! The transport security system in force in China implies that only the “target audience” – passengers – will be on the railway territory. You arrive and leave, or you are waiting for your train, and the rest of the people at the station have nothing to do - they won’t let anyone through. Indeed, strict inspectors keep a watchful eye on documents. The guide has a special ticket for the person seeing you off. For reference, the station can accommodate 8,000 people at a time, and its architecture has both traditional and modern styles.
Then the next attraction begins - you need to find on the board (not all information has English interlinear) the number of your train, next to which the number of... the waiting room will be indicated. Our hall was on the first floor and it turned out to be overcrowded, there was no question of sitting down, in fact, getting up with things among the passengers was problematic. The guide grouped us near him and told us to follow him. The large hall with a high ceiling literally enveloped us in noise and din, not to mention that the announcements were useless to our ears. After half an hour of standing, squeezed among our own and other people’s suitcases, we felt the following shock - everyone who had been sitting and lying there before got up from their seats and from the floor. This movement signaled the beginning of passage to the boarding platform. And here again - the controller and the turntable, squeezing through which we find ourselves in the passage and run after the whole crowd, then down the stairs, passing through the tunnel, climbing up the stairs - and we are at the goal - here is our train. We find our carriage, the conductor checks our passports with tickets, and we go into the carriage.


Then it turns out that one of us has a ticket in another compartment, and a Chinese grandfather is traveling with us in the top bunk. Our guide is negotiating with him about the possibility of an exchange. The cunning grandfather bargains for the bottom bunk, otherwise he does not agree to leave our compartment. And at the same time he pretends that he doesn’t know that the cost of the lower and upper shelves is different. Well, old age must be respected, and we thank grandfather for his kindness.
The compartment itself on the Chinese train turned out to be similar to ours, the only downside was the lack of a locker for luggage. The lower shelves did not rise, had free space, but at the same time the height from the floor hardly allowed an average suitcase to be squeezed in there. We barely had time to place our luggage before the train started moving, that is, the entire boarding procedure took place within 20-25 minutes after starting from the waiting room. This is where the Chinese have such a pace, with whom we could barely keep up.
Having come to our senses after such an ordeal, we examine the compartment and find a large thermos. Soon the conductor comes and takes our paper tickets (with magnetic stripe) and gives us plastic cards in exchange. The formalities are completed, and we can study the carriage, mastering the territory of daily travel.

Here is a new discovery: unlike our trains, the compartment car has not our 9 standard compartments, but 8. The freed-up space has three sinks, which is very convenient and solves the problem of an always busy toilet on the way. By the way, the toilets located on the working and non-working vestibules are different - one with a high toilet (European type), and the other with a floor-mounted one, or “Genoa bowl” (Asian type).

The most amazing thing was the wide vestibules and passages from car to car, unlike our narrow and uncomfortable ones. On the non-working side, in addition to the toilet, there are also three sinks.

There is also a conductor's room and a luggage storage room. On the working side of the carriage there was also a small compartment for the conductor and a boiler in which we filled a thermos with hot water. Along the route, a cart periodically passed by offering packaged fruits and hot food from the dining car.

The stop where we had to get off was not the final one, and we were worried about not getting through, and in vain. The conductor returned our paper tickets half an hour before arrival, taking away the plastic cards. We were not met at the carriage, and we, warned about this, went down from the platform. There is a ticket check again and a guide meeting us, from whom we asked what would happen if you did not present your ticket at the exit. The answer was short - you will pay the fare plus a fine.

A few days later we had a longer journey by rail ahead of us: we had to travel from the city of Chengdu to Lhasa (the capital of Tibet) along that same famous high-mountain road. Travel time is 48 hours.
The stress began already on the station square, which was packed with people, as during a demonstration. The local guide gave us tickets, permits (special permits to visit Tibet), and wished us a safe journey. Of course, we already had Beijing experience, but there we were led by a guide, and we expected that here too they would take us to the carriage and seat us, making sure that the Russian tourists had departed safely. The girl did not speak Russian, but chattered in English, and although her speech was quite intelligible, her stupor did not allow her to immediately assess the situation. We began to worry, asking her over and over again how to find our train. Of course, we managed, and it even became a kind of adventure. Here everything was according to the already well-known Beijing scenario - luggage scanner, ticket check, information board, search for a waiting room. We had enough time before departure, and fortunately, we even managed to take free seats. In the depths of the waiting room there were peculiar gate passages with numbers, and next to it there was a board indicating through which gate the boarding would take place. We identified our gates, at the same time marking large group Tibetans who were returning home sang choral songs with joy.


People were already snaking towards the gates located next to ours; according to the time, their train was supposed to leave in 10 minutes, but no one was allowed in yet, and everyone was patiently waiting for “sim-sim, open.” After some thought, we decided that we were able to stand for half an hour, but be the first at the entrance, and moved closer to the Tibetans. We were launched twenty minutes before departure, and what a steeplechase it was!


Everything became clear later, the lovely Tibetans had tickets for a general carriage, perhaps without seats, and they were in a hurry to take the best of them in order to travel for 2 days in relative comfort. In general, as soon as we settled into the compartment, the train moved smoothly.
In addition to the above, this carriage surprised with LCD monitors at the foot of each berth. However, by the way, the screens did not come to life during the entire route, and there was water in the washbasin only in the first half of the day. The Chengdu-Lhasa train is an express train with a maximum speed of 140 km/h. Its distinctive feature is the minimum number of stops, which can be objectively explained by the load of passengers on the entire route from the starting station to the final station. The carriage is a soft sleeper, and if you have disposable slippers, there is no service in the form of towels and soap.
We, of course, read that the train along the road overcomes an altitude of 5000 m above sea level, but the questionnaires given to us were a little shocking. A small piece of paper was a kind of insurance receipt for the railway for each passenger, stating that his decision to travel by train to the high-mountain plateau area is voluntary and conscious, that your health is fine, and you understand that you are doing this at your own peril and risk .

Having signed such a verdict, we became quiet: in fact, we hoped that in this way acclimatization would be easier due to the gradual entry into the highlands of Tibet and its capital at an altitude of 3600 m above sea level.
The first day of the journey we simply slept, preparing ourselves for the altitude difference. At night I woke up with a headache, looked out the window and gasped - it was white, white, and when we left it was +25 degrees. Near the conductors' compartment there is a dashboard on which the altitude above sea level can be guessed. If only my head didn’t hurt – 4200!

It immediately becomes clear that we are in the Celestial Empire, and bare statistics confirm that almost 1000 km will pass the way at this height! In the evening we examined a certain box at the head of the room, which turned out to be an individual device for supplying oxygen. The air in Tibet is thin, and in order to assist passengers in the fight against the “miner”, oxygen is supplied to the carriages (centrally, through air conditioners). His arrival was noticeable even by ear - a sort of hissing. For those especially suffering, there are individual tubes that can be inserted directly into the nose. It’s a pity that the carriage didn’t have a clear schedule, and we couldn’t understand when we passed the highest point on the Qinghai-Tibet Road at 5200 m above sea level (Tangggula Pass), as well as the highest mountain tunnel in the world – the Fenghushan Tunnel ( at 4900 meters) with a length of 1338 meters.
The next morning greeted us with steppe views outside the window with sparse yellow-green vegetation. The road from Chengdu to Lhasa goes in a loop, initially it is a double track, then turns into a single track.


We are already driving through the permafrost territory, or permafrost zone, and this is what became the biggest problem during the construction of the road. To strengthen the railway track, the top layer of soil, “floating” in the summer, was covered with large amounts of stone and crushed stone, and many sections were simply raised onto bridges.


It was these bridges that accompanied us all the way; they look especially beautiful at the turns. Then I read on the Internet that during the construction of this road, Russian experience in permafrost conditions was used. Outside the windows, a deserted landscape and rare buildings float by, we wonder who lives in them and for what purpose they were even built here in the steppe.

There is always a solar battery installed next to lonely houses, which we unsuccessfully try to photograph. It turns out that the windows are tinted with a protective ultraviolet layer to protect them from the bright light of the sun. This fact does not allow us to take decent photographs, but there was plenty to photograph! The slopes of the railway tracks are covered with mesh or patterned stones. High bridge supports lift the train above the ground; first, hills grow along the track, and then mountains with snow-capped peaks appear. Tunnels appear, there are practically no stops, and it is impossible to determine what is overboard. The headache is noticeable, but this does not stop us from having a snack and jumping out into the street when the train finally stops. This was the Na Qu station at an altitude of 4500 m, as evidenced by the platform sign. After this station, the views outside the window became stunning, and even enhanced by the emerging sun. Without looking up from the window, forgetting about the headache, we enjoyed the magnificent views of the mountains. Yaks and sheep appear, some birds hover above the ground, and a hare gallops across the steppe. In our carriage, besides us, there are three other Dutchmen, and we occupy the corridor windows, admiring the beauty. After some time, the Chinese also poured out of the compartment; they “watch the watchers,” that is, us, appreciating our enthusiasm with satisfaction. I take off my hat to the labor feat of the Chinese and am no longer surprised that during the construction of the railway, the animals whose traditional migration routes it crossed were not forgotten. To solve these environmental problems special passages for animals were arranged.
We arrived right on schedule final station Qinghai-Tibet Railway - to the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, the city of Lhasa.


At the exit from the station there is a traditional ticket check, but not only that. You will not be allowed into the territory of Tibet without permits, they are strict about this here. The Lhasa station is architecturally designed in a typical Tibetan style, has 5 floors (as it is written on the Internet), but I immediately wondered why such a large building for a station with 6-7 pairs of trains, because in China stations are used strictly functionally, and after arrival trains, this station quickly empties until the next train.

Or maybe it was built with perspective? After all, the construction of the railway continues and soon from Lhasa tourists will be able to get not only to Shigatse, but also to the capital of Nepal (Kathmandu), as well as to Indian Calcutta.