Tenth birthday of the world's highest altitude train line

Nanshankou Railway Station, located in Golmud city, is under construction in 2006. The railway station is the starting point of the second section of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, linking Golmud in Northwest China's Gansu province to Lhasa in Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region. [Photo/Xinhua]

The Qinghai-Tibet railway celebrates its tenth birthday on Friday, since its second section, linking Golmud in Northwest China's Qinghai province and Lhasa in Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region, opened to traffic on July 1, 2006.

The 1,142-km section, out of the 1,956-km Qinghai-Tibet Railway, put an end to Tibet's inaccessibility by rail.

Widely known as the longest railway with the highest altitude in the world, the line boasts the world's highest plateau permafrost tunnel-Fenghuoshan Tunnel at an altitude of 4,910 meters,and the world's highest railway station- Tanggula Railway Station at an altitude of 5,068 meters.

Besides, the line is also known for having a 11.7-km bridge section named Qingshuihe Grand Bridge in Hoh Xil, Northwest China's Qinghai province.

Since July 1, 2006, this Railway has reportedly transported more than 100 million passengers traveling from and to Tibet and more than 500 million goods, helping the GDP of Tibet exceed 100 billion yuan ($15 billion).