Lhasa-Shigatse Railway

The Lhasa–Xigazê railway, or La’ri railway (simplified Chinese: 拉日铁路; traditional Chinese: 拉日鐵路; pinyin: Lārì Tiělù; Standard Tibetan: lha gzhis lcags lam ལྷ་གཞིས་ལྕགས་ལམ་), is a high-elevation railway that connects Lhasa to Xigazê, in the Tibet Autonomous Region. The travel time between Lhasa and Xigazê on this line is roughly three hours.

History

The line was a spur line of the Qinghai–Tibet railway. The length of the railway is 253 km (157 mi). Construction began in September 2010 and was connected to the Qinghai–Tibet Railway in May 2013. The line was completed in July 2014 and opened for commercial operations on August 16, 2014. Soon after opening, the line became the primary mode of transport between Lhasa and Xigazê; the two destinations were previously only connected by road and air, and air travel was inaccessible at the time to the large majority of local residents.

The exiled Central Tibetan Administration in Dharamsala has claimed that the rail line will dilute the cultural identity of Tibetans by accelerating the movement of Han migrants into Tibet.

Stations

The line includes 14 stations, of which only a few sees regular passenger traffic (Qüxü, Rinbung). The project had a budget of 10.8 billion yuan.

The completion of this project opened up possible extensions of the network further west and south into Nepal and to Yadong County, close to the border with Sikkim, India.

Extension

Although there were plans to extend the line with another 700 km to the Chinese border with Nepal, those plans became delayed due to difficulties on the Nepal side after the April 2015 Nepal earthquake. Feasibility studies were proposed for extension towards Zhangmu, although another border crossing may be chosen due to major Nepali abandonment of the border post.

Stations

  • Lhasa railway station (拉萨)
  • Lhasa South railway station (拉萨南)
  • Baide railway station (白德)
  • Xierong railway station (协荣)
  • Qüxü County railway station (曲水县)
  • Chabala railway station (茶巴拉)
  • Nyêmo railway station (尼木)
  • Karu railway station (卡如)
  • Rinbung railway station (仁布)
  • Dazhuka railway station (大竹卡)
  • Denggu railway station (灯古)
  • Jiqiong railway station (吉琼)
  • Kadui railway station (卡堆)
  • Xigazê railway station (日喀则)