The railway tickets from Beijing to Lhasa were snapped up on Wednesday, the first day the tickets were released to the public. The inaugural train leaves Beijing on Saturday.

By 18:00 on Wednesday, only a small number of hard seat tickets were available at the Beijing West Railway Station, where the train will leave for Lhasa.

Three types of train tickets are available at different prices for a journey of 4,064 kilometers from Beijing to Lhasa.

The basic coach ticket, called a hard seat, sells for 389 yuan (US$48.6) from Beijing to Lhasa, while the price for hard sleeper or bunk costs 813 yuan (US$101.6) and the price for a shared compartment or soft sleeper is 1,262 yuan (US$157.75).

Sleeping on a train's hard berth from Beijing to Tibet is regarded by tourists as a cheaper way to see the "Roof of the World", only one-third of a one-way air ticket at present, which is 2,430 yuan (US$303.75).

Passengers are required to complete a health registration card after they buy the ticket and a health check is also suggested.

According to a staff member with the Beijing West Railway Station, both the ticket and the health registration card are needed when passengers board the train to ensure the passengers are capable for a railway trip at high altitude.

On a notice released at the Beijing West Railway Station, passengers are also required to protect the natural environment of Tibet after arriving there by train.

The local tourism bureau in Tibet predicts an additional 400,000 tourists will enter Tibet by way of Qinghai Province after the Qinghai-Tibet Railway opens to traffic each year. Experts are concerned that the flood of tourists may be a new threat to the fragile environment.

Besides the Beijing-Lhasa route, two other train routes to Lhasa are also open to traffic beginning on Saturday. One is from Chengdu (Chongqing) to Lhasa, and the other is from Xining to Lhasa.

Sources from the Ministry of Railways said, the newly-constructed Lhasa railway station also started to sell tickets for the Lhasa-Lanzhou train on Wednesday. Besides, the Chengdu station and Xining station also started selling tickets for trains toward Lhasa on Wednesday.

According to the ministry, on Wednesday (June 28), passengers can start to buy tickets for trains toward Lhasa on Saturday (July 1st), but with only tickets to the terminal stations available. On June 29, passengers can buy tickets for trains to run between July 2 to July 4, while tickets for trains between July 5 and July 8 will be available on June 30.

On July 1st, passengers can buy tickets for trains after July 9, and after that, passengers can get their tickets 10 days ahead of their trip, said the ministry.

The world's highest railway extends 1,956 kilometers from Xining to Lhasa. Some 960 kilometers of its tracks are located 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 29, 2006)