Tibet, the last provincial region without a railway system in China, will soon be seeing trains.
The Qianghai-Tibet Railway Construction Headquarters said the first ever railway in the region in southwest China will be laid in a few days.
The rail route of Germu to Lahsa is a plateau railway being built at the world's highest altitude.
The railway, which will span over1,000 kilometers, starts from Germu, a western city of Qinghai Province, then crosses high mountains and finally reaches Lahsa. The average altitude along the route is 4,500 meters.
At present 400 kilometers have been completed.
(CRI June 15, 2004)