A total of 169 China-made express trains are ready to run along the Qinghai-Tibet railway, the world's highest rail track due to begin trial operation on July 1.

The trains are specifically designed to operate on the altiplano railway of which 84 percent is 4,000 meters above sea level.

An engineer with manufacturer CSR Sifang Locomotive & Rolling Stock told Xinhua that the trains mark a new leap forward for China's railway equipment development.

The design of the carriages is unmistakably Tibetan, from the patterned carpets to the window curtains. All the Chinese words that appear on the electronic screen in each railway car are translated into both English and Tibetan.

Two oxygen systems have been installed on the train.

One is a "dispersion-mode" oxygen supply system, with oxygen spreading to the air in the railway car through the air-conditioning system. The other system, like that of an airplane, offers each passenger individual access to oxygen, and passengers can use a pipe to suck up more oxygen if needed.

All railway cars are equipped with double-layer glass which is covered with anti-ultraviolet radiation film.

With 1,142 kilometers section of the railway between Golmud and Lhasa running along Kunlun Mountain and Tanggula Mountain, 960 kilometers of the railway will be above 4,000 meters, with the highest point at 5,072 meters, at least 200 meters higher than the Peruvian railway in the Andes, which was formerly the world's most elevated track.

To protect the natural environment along the railway, special sewage collection devices have been installed. All the waste is disposed of at the terminus.

A special rubbish compressor has also been installed in each car to avoid litter being strewn along the railway.

The train is also equipped with disabled toilets.

The 25T series train is designed for a maximum speed of 160 kilometers per hour, and it has reached 120 kilometers per hour during the test runs in previous months. The engineer said even when running through the highest point on the Tanggula Mountain, the speed of the train can reach 80 kilometers per hour.

Sources with the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Company said last month that the first four scheduled trains to Tibet by the Qinghai-Tibet railway will start, on July 1, from Beijing, Chengdu, Xining, and Shanghai (Guangzhou), respectively.

The railway is the first to connect the Tibet Autonomous Region with other parts of China. It is one of China's key projects in the west, which demonstrates the Chinese government's determination to bring prosperity to the Tibetan people and promote economic development of the vast western areas in China.

(Xinhua News Agency June 15, 2006)