The higest altitude railway----Qingzang Railway

Qingzang Railway	Qingzang Railway

The Qingzang Railway is a project by the Chinese Government to build a unique railway linking Tibet with Mainland China. The railway will include sections at high altitude, crossing 5000 metre high mountains, long tunnels and lots of track laid on permafrost. The railway is being hailed in China as "an engineering miracle", but has attracted criticism from across the world over fears that the railway, the first to link it to outside the region, will increase Chinese control over the Tibetan autonomous region and will erode Tibetan culture and traditions. At present, Qinghai-Tibet railway is the longest plateau railway with highest altitude in the world, which crosses three huge mountains in Tibet plateau, naming Kunlun Mountain, Tanggula Range and Nyainqentanglha Mountain. There are many beautiful sights along the railway line, such as jokul, Tibet antelope and lakes on plateau.
Before ,Tibet can only be reached by air and by road. Departing from lower-altitude airports to fly into Tibet carries the risk of experiencing high altitude sickness, and the landing at Lhasa can be 'hair-raising'. Travelling by road means several days on a bus or hitchhiking on trucks over windy mountain roads. When the Quingzang Railway opens, it is expected that direct trains will run from Beijing and other cities .As well as passengers, the railway will also have a strong use in transporting freight, currently carried on trucks. This will mean that more coal and petroleum-based products will be brought into Tibet. Whilst China claims that this will enable Tibetans to stop logging pine trees for fuel, aiding the local ecology, the railway will accelerate Tibet's use of climate-damaging fossil fuels.
The railway had been opened in July of first in 2006. And it is scheduled to open fully in 2007. Luxury carriages will carry tourists, with sleeping compartments and oxygen tanks to enable breathing within the high-altitude areas.