China's altiplano trains ready to climb onto "Roof of the world"
14/6/2006 17:00
A total of 169 China-made express trains are ready to run along the
Qinghai-Tibet railway, the world's highest railtrack due to begin trial
operation on July 1.
The trains are specifically designed to operate on the
altiplano railway of which 84 percent is 4,000 meters above sea level.
An
engineer with manufacturer CSR Sifang Locomotive & Rolling Stock told Xinhua
that the trains mark a new leap forward for China's railway equipment
development.
The design of the carriages is unmistakably Tibetan, from the
patterned carpets to the window curtains. All the Chinese words that appear on
the electronic screen in each railway car are translated into both English and
Tibetan.
Two oxygen systems have been installed on the train.
One is a
"dispersion-mode" oxygen supply system, with oxygen spreading to the air in the
railway car through the air-conditioning system. The other system, like that of
an airplane, offers each passenger individual access to oxygen, and passengers
can use a pipe to suck up more oxygen if needed.
All railway cars are
equipped with double-layer glass which is covered with anti-ultraviolet
radiation film.
With 1,142 kilometers section of the railway between Golmud
and Lhasa running along Kunlun Mountain and Tanggula Mountain, 960 kilometers of
the railway will be above 4,000 meters, with the highest point at 5,072 meters,
at least 200 meters higher than the Peruvian railway in the Andes, which was
formerly the world's most elevated track.
To protect the natural environment
along the railway, special sewage collection devices have been installed. All
the waste is disposed of at the terminus.
A special rubbish compressor has
also been installed in each car to avoid litter being strewn along the
railway.
The train is also equipped with disabled toilets.
The 25T series
train is designed for a maximum speed of 160 kilometers per hour, and it has
reached 120 kilometers per hour during the test runs in previous months. The
engineer said even when running through the highest point on the Tanggula
Mountain, the speed of the train can reach 80 kilometers per hour.
Sources
with the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Company said last month that the first four
scheduled trains to Tibet by the Qinghai-Tibet railway will start, on July 1,
from Beijing, Chengdu, Xining, and Shanghai (Guangzhou), respectively.
The
railway is the first to connect the Tibet Autonomous Region with other parts of
China. It is one of China's key projects in the west, which demonstrates the
Chinese government's determination to bring prosperity to the Tibetan people and
promote economic development of the vast western areas in
China.
xinhua
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