After five years of arduous work, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the world's highest
railway and the first railway linking Tibet and the other parts of
China, was put into operation on July 1, 2006. People's
Daily published on July 4 an interview with Liu Zhijun,
minister of Railways.
These are the key excerpts of that interview.
According to Liu, scientific development is the thread that runs
through the Qinghai-Tibet Railway. This is demonstrated in many
ways.
The primary aim of the railway was to accelerate development,
one of the features of the scientific development concept. As the
bridge that links production, distribution, exchange and
consumption, transportation is the foundation of a nation's
industrialization and modernization.
Backward transport facilities to date have greatly restricted
the economic and social development of Qinghai and Tibet.
In Liu's opinion, the railway will improve the transport
situation on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, optimize the investment
climate in Qinghai and Tibet, and will improve rational exploration
of the region's competitive resources.
The railway also aims at balancing out the unequal paces of
development of the different regions, and between urban and rural
areas. More significant, it will also be instrumental in
constructing a new socialist countryside.
Statistics show that the purchasing power of 100
yuan?(US$12.5)?in Lhasa is equivalent to only 54 yuan
(US$6.75)?in inland areas. Prices of essential materials like
coal, petroleum and cement are much higher than in inland
provinces. High transportation costs are a major reason for
this.
The railway is a major extension to existing rail networks in
west China, a factor which strengthens infrastructure, a major part
of the Western China Development Strategy.
It will facilitate the movement of people, materials, capital
and information in and out of Qinghai and Tibet, and greatly reduce
transport costs in and out of Tibet.
Liu highlighted that the railway is also a good example of how
to achieve sustainable development. The railway route runs
alongside an ecosystem peculiar to the region, abundant in rare and
unique species of flora and fauna, and diversified natural
sceneries. It is a fragile environment, which the railway attempts
to not damage despite its huge transport capabilities. Energy
consumption and pollution levels are low, and a limited amount of
land was used in the construction.
During its construction, great importance was attached to the
protection of the fragile ecosystem. An environmental protection
supervision system was introduced, for the first time, to the
construction process. 1.54 billion yuan (US$192.6 million)?was
also allocated to environmental protection.
Liu described it as a "green railway".
But that's not all. The construction of the railway is also an
embodiment of people-centric values.
First, it realizes the long-cherished wishes of the Qinghai and
Tibet people for benefit for all ethnic groups along its route.
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Second, the health of workers building the railroad was a
priority, so much so that there were no reports of deaths from
altitude sickness, the spread of SARS (severe acute respiratory
syndrome) or the plague.
Third, designers envisioned a railway of high standard and
quality to meet increasingly challenging travel demands. To achieve
this, traveling time is reduced where possible and the trains pass
through the oxygen-deficient areas in the quickest time possible,
facilities are made as reliable as possible for as little need for
maintenance as possible, and operation and management personnel
numbers are kept to a minimum.
Passenger trains can reach speeds of up to 120 kilometers per
hour in unfrozen areas and 100 km per hour in areas where they
travel over frozen terrain.
There are no guards on duty at 38 of the 45 railway stations
along the Golmud and Lhasa section.
Liu stressed that China achieved breakthroughs in frozen zone
engineering, railway architecture integration?with the local
natural and cultural sceneries, and the introduction and innovation
of world-class technological equipment.
Further, Liu pointed out that the railway will strive to attain
first-class safety: advanced equipment maintenance, and highly
trained staff; operation and management: the rational allocation of
transport capabilities, a scientific management, and effective
environmental protection; and service: creating an innovative
railway transportation product which is characteristic of the
Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and is tailored to customers' needs.
(China.org.cn by Yuan Fang, July 6, 2006)