China’s Qinghai-Tibet railway set to be world’s highest

BEIJING: China’s Qinghai-Tibet railway will become the world’s highest rail line when it goes into service on July 1, reaching 5,072 metres (16,737 feet) above sea level at its highest point.

The rail line that traverses the Tibetan plateau known as the “roof of the world” will be higher than Peru’s historic Lima-Huancayo line, which reaches to 4,800 meters.

The 335-kilometre Peruvian line, designed and built by French educated Polish engineer Ernest Malinowski at the end of the 19th century, was built by Chinese laborers whose descendants still populate Peru today. Departing from the Peruvian capital on the Pacific coast, the railway ascends into the Andes Mountains where passengers are given bottles of oxygen and coca tea to overcome bouts of altitude sickness.

After suspending service for dozens of years, the historic Peruvian line was declared a national historic monument in 1972 and now mainly serves tourists on a once-a-week round trip that costs about 48 dollars for the 11-hour journey.

The Qinghai-Tibet railway will be equipped with pressurized wagons and will be serviced by doctors and nurses. Passengers will be provided with oxygen masks.

Tickets for the trip from Beijing to the Tibetan capital of Lhasa will cost 380 yuan (46 dollars) for a hard seat, the lowest class on Chinese railways. A “hard sleeper” will cost 776 yuan and a first class “soft sleeper” is priced at 1,241 yuan.