Lanzhou-Urumqi high-speed railway to open in 2014

The country's first high-speed railway that is partly built on a plateau is expected to open by the end of next year, People's Daily reported on Thursday.

The 1,776-km Lanzhou-Urumqi high-speed railway links the two capitals of Gansu province and Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region.

It runs through the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which has complex geological situations that make the high-speed railway tunnel construction a difficult and risky project.

The report said the project's most difficult part is a 16-km section consisting of two railway tunnels and a bridge that run at a height of more than 3,600 meters.

Construction on the two tunnels started three years ago. Railway constructors said they aim to complete the two tunnels by the end of this year and have rail tracks laid through the two tunnels by April 30, 2014.