Close to Arunachal, China launches first bullet train in Tibet
Beijing, June 25: China on Friday operationalised its first fully electrified bullet train in the remote Himalayan region of Tibet, connecting the provincial capital Lhasa and Nyingchi, a strategically located Tibetan border town close to Arunachal Pradesh.
The 435.5-km Lhasa-Nyingchi section of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway has been inaugurated ahead of the centenary celebrations of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) on July 1.
The first electrified railway in Tibet Autonomous Region opened Friday morning, linking Lhasa with Nyingchi as "Fuxing" bullet trains enter official operation on the plateau region, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The
Sichuan-Tibet
Railway
will
be
the
second
railway
into
Tibet
after
the
Qinghai-Tibet
Railway.
It
will
go
through
the
southeast
of
the
Qinghai-Tibet
Plateau,
one
of
the
world''s
most
geologically
active
areas.
In
November,
Chinese
President
Xi
Jinping
had
instructed
officials
to
expedite
construction
of
the
new
railway
project,
connecting
Sichuan
Province
and
Nyingchi
in
Tibet,
saying
the
new
rail
line
would
play
a
key
role
in
safeguarding
the
border
stability.
The
Sichuan-Tibet
Railway
starts
from
Chengdu,
capital
of
Sichuan
Province,
and
travels
through
Ya''an
and
enters
Tibet
via
Qamdo,
shortening
the
journey
from
Chengdu
to
Lhasa
from
48
hours
to
13
hours.
Nyingchi
is
prefecture-level
city
of
Medog
which
is
adjacent
to
the
Arunachal
Pradesh
border.
China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of South Tibet, which is firmly rejected by India. The India-China border dispute covers the 3,488-km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC).
Qian Feng, director of the research department at the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University, told the official daily Global Times earlier that "If a scenario of a crisis happens at the China-India border, the railway will provide a great convenience for China's delivery of strategic materials.