China has set the timetables for the first three pairs of trains from five cities to Lhasa along the world's highest Qinghai-Tibet railway which is due to open for trial operations on July 1.

Among the three pairs of train routes, there are a pair of express trains to run from Beijing to Lhasa, four pairs of express trains between Chengdu (Chongqing) and Lhasa, and two pairs of fast trains between Xining (Lanzhou) and Lhasa.

Departing from Beijing's West Railway Station at 21:30, train T27/8 will arrive in Lhasa in Tibet at 20:58 three days after, the 4,064-kilometer trip taking a total of 47 hours and 28 minutes, sources said on Monday.

T27/8 train will pass through six cities, including Shijiazhuang, Xi'an, Lanzhou, Xining, Golmud and Nagqu township.

The return trip from Lhasa to Beijing is scheduled to take 32 minutes longer than the outbound.

The trip from Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, to Lhasa, covering a distance of 3,360 kilometers, will take about 48 hours and 10 minutes on train T22/23. This train will pass Guangyuan, Baoji, then link to Lanzhou, Xining, Golmud and Nagqu township before it reaches Lhasa. The return journey on train T24/1 will take 48 hours 50 minutes.

The 3,654-kilometer trip from Chongqing to Lhasa will have eight stops before it arrives in Lhasa after 47 hours and eight minutes, while the trip from Lhasa to Chongqing will take 48 hours and 50 minutes.

The journey from Lanzhou to Lhasa on train K917/8 will take only 29 hours and 45 minutes to cover 2,188-kilometers.

The journey from Xining in Qinghai Province to Lhasa, which are 1,972 kilometers apart, will take 26 hours and 23 minutes.

Ticket prices for the above-mentioned train routes have also been set.

The Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the world's highest, extends 1,956 kilometers from Xining to Lhasa. Some 960 kilometers of its tracks are 4,000 meters above sea level and the highest point is 5,072 meters, at least 200 meters higher than the Peruvian railway in the Andes, which was formerly the world's highest altitude railway.

(Xinhua News Agency June 27, 2006)