The nearly 2,000-kilometer-long Qinghai-Tibet railway, which went into operation last July, traverses the reserve.

Cega, director of the Hoh Xil Nature Reserve Administration in Qinghai Province in Northwest China, rejected concerns that the railway had disrupted the antelopes' lives or endangered their existence.

Altogether 33 subterranean passages have been constructed along the railway's route to allow wild animals safely pass under the tracks to facilitate migration for food or breeding.

"In recent years (during which time the railway was built and started operating), antelopes within the reserve have grown used to the train and the passages, and have not changed their fixed migration routes," Cega told the Xinhua News Agency.

Every summer, clusters of female antelopes use the passages to travel to the inner parts of the reserve to give birth to calves before returning in August.

Cega said that antelope had not been surprised by recent patrols along the railway and did not run away in panic when they spotted the coming train.

Fences have been erected along the entire Golmud-Lhasa section of the Qinghai-Tibet railway to ensure the safety of animals resting near the railway.

And Cega said efforts to combat poaching had also reaped benefits in recent years, with the number of Tibetan antelopes steadily increasing.

The population of Tibetan antelopes in the reserve is about 50,000, he said.

Extensive breeding and less poaching last year had bolstered the population of the endangered animals .

The Qinghai-Tibet railway took 140,000 workers and five years to complete.

Qiangba Puncog, government chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region, told reporters on the sidelines of the annual session of the National People's Congress last week that the railway did not pose any ecological threat to the Qinghai-Tibet plateau.

"The railway did not damage the frozen earth layer, the lakes or the grassland," he said.

The train is more than 90 percent reliable, he added.

Beijing Olympic officials have expressed hope that the 2008 Beijing Olympic torch relay would reach the top of Mount Qomolangma, the world's highest mountain. The relay's final itinerary is expected to be announced next month.