The Qinghai-Tibet Railway first linked Tibet to the rest of China ten years ago. Its construction proved one of the most challenging engineering projects in the world, one that many experts considered impossible a few decades prior. The route traverses 550 kilometers of permafrost, whose instability from season to season makes it a notoriously difficult foundation on which to build. The Tibetan Plateau is the prime habitat for many of the world‘s rarest species, so engineers had to design countless workarounds to protect the ecosystem through which it passes. Oxygen levels less than half those at sea-level necessitated special medical care for workers and on-board oxygen once the line was completed. Nevertheless, you can now travel 20 hours from Xining (capital of Qinghai) to Lhasa (capital of Tibet Autonomous Region) by rail; it took four years of construction and $4 billion.

The railway projects the CPC proposes for the coming decade will dwarf the Qinghai-Tibet line in complexity. Easier access to region‘s estimated $96 billion of mineral resources, the ability to transport an envisioned influx of tourists, and significant increases in government security capabilities are necessary for TAR‘s development away from subsidies into a self-reliant economy. The capstone will be the Sichuan-Tibet railway connecting Lhasa with Chendu that may cost an estimated $16 billion and take until 2030 to complete. Last month the Tibet Daily reported that construction of roughly 2000km of track would commence in the next five years (which includes projects other than the Chengdu-Lhasa line) -- a lofty goal that will pit planners and engineers against problems mountainous in more ways than one.

"Perched at over 3,000 meters above sea level, and with more than 74 percent of its length running on bridges or in tunnels, the railway will meander through the mountains, the highest of which is over 7,000 meters." Said Sichuan‘s governor Yin Li in an interview with China Daily. ―It presents difficulties to overcome, such as avalanches, landslides, earthquakes, terrestrial heat, karst caves and underground streams, yet, it is still a worthwhile project.‖

The route will shorten the trip from Chengdu to Lhasa, currently 42 hours by train, to 15 hours. Tibet hopes to become a major destination for domestic and foreign tourists, but the project is also expected to increase tourism to western Sichuan. The deputy director of the Tibet Tourism Development Commission, Hong Wei, recently announced that reforms easing travel regulations to the region are in the making. According to government figures, Tibet received roughly 10 million domestic and foreign tourists in 2012, funding an industry that employs 300,000.

(Daniel Boltinsky, English editor of China. org. cn)