High-speed trains to run on Qinghai-Tibet line next month

China's fastest train — the Fuxing bullet — is expected to run on the Qinghai-Tibet Railway line by next month, according to China Railway Qinghai-Tibet Group.

Basic renovation of the Xining-Golmud section of the railway has been completed, with construction work done so far being approved last week, said Ma Yinjun, deputy general manager of the company.

The project has now entered its "static acceptance stage", or handover of the station house and other facilities, laying the foundation for the "dynamic acceptance stage", or test run of the Fuxing bullet train on the line, Ma said.

The railway company started renovating a 760-kilometer-long stretch of the 814 km Xining-Golmud section in June 2021 with an estimated investment of 1.5 billion yuan ($209 million).

Given the progress of the project, the Fuxing bullet is expected to start operating on the section in July, the company said, adding that the high-speed train, which can reach a top speed of 160 kilometers per hour on this line, will reduce the travel time between Xining and Golmud by roughly an hour.

Ma said a "dedicated quality management and acceptance team" has been formed to monitor the project and carry out multiple tasks. The team comprises nearly 100 staff members from 36 departments and units of the company.

"The team will conduct tests and tasks related to power supply, communication signals, passenger and freight information, carriage facilities, station house construction, water conservation and environmental protection," he said.

Once all "static acceptance work" is completed, the project will enter the phase of joint debugging and dynamic testing, when the Fuxing bullet train will undergo trial runs.

The Qinghai-Tibet Railway line runs between Xining in Qinghai province and Lhasa in the Tibet autonomous region. Construction of the Xining-Golmud section began in 1958 and was completed in 1984, while the section between Golmud and Lhasa became operational in 2006.

Over the past four decades, the line saw many upgrades, but the Xining-Golmud section, which was fraught with several geological and technical disadvantages, could support only trains running at a maximum speed of 140 km per hour until the recent renovation work.

"The project fixed the railroad bed's frost and sand damage, and reversed soil salinity on the section. It also repaired weak bridges and culverts along the line," Ma said. "Facilities at some stations with a high passenger volume are currently being strengthened."

With the rapid improvement of China's comprehensive strength in recent years, it was proposed that the transportation capacity between Xining and Golmud be increased to spur further economic development of the Qinghai-Tibet region. Major transformation of the whole line is on the cards, Ma said.