Infrastructure

China has unveiled plans to develop 5000-km railway lines, in addition to 59 general aviation airports across the Tibetan Autonomous Region by 2035, reports say. 

Some of these lines and airports will be close to China’s borders with India and Nepal.

Its 14th five-year plan (2021-2025) envisions a network of 4,000 kilometres of railway lines by 2025, says an article published on globaltimes.cn on Feb 7.

By 2035, the total railway network in TAR will reach 5,000 kilometres or more, including 1,000 kilometres of double-track railway lines. Besides, each county in TAR is envisaged to have one or more general aviation airports by 2035, according to a report on Tibetan Review.

The region currently has only three railway lines in operation: the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, put in operation in Jul 2006, the Lhasa-Shigatse Railway which opened in 2014 and Lhasa-Nyingtri Railway which started in 2021. It says. 

As of the end of 2021, it sad, TAR had 1,359 kilometres of railway lines in operation.

The railway network, with Lhasa at the centre, will cover all prefecture- and city-level administrative regions in TAR and provide convenient access to Xinjiang, Qinghai, Sichuan, Yunnan and other neighbouring provinces as well as major land ports along the border.

The TAR also plans to build an international railway corridor to South Asia to open the international railway channel between China and South Asian countries, according to the Tibetan Review.

The region borders India, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar, where China is trying to extend connectivity under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Major new railway lines set to become operational by 2025 have been stated to include the section between Ya’an in Sichuan Province and Nyingtri city in TAR of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway; the section between Shigatse and Pelku Lake in TAR of the Xinjiang-Tibet Railway; and the section from Bomi County to Ranwu Lake of the Yunnan-Tibet Railway, the article said.

By 2025, China also plans to start a new railway project, namely the railway in Kyirong County of Shigatse City. The county shares a border with Nepal’s Rasuwa district. A separate plan is underway to develop Kyirong-Kathmandu railway line.

China says Railway passenger trips in TAR will reach 5.62 million by 2025 and about 9.68 million by 2035, according to the article.

Regarding cargo, 1.09 million tons of goods will be delivered while 10.29 million tons of freight will arrive by rail by 2025. And these figures will hit 1.79 million tons and 13.03 million tons respectively by 2035, it says.

New airports

Besides, an aviation development plan for 2021-2035, released on Feb 2, was stated to envisage the realization of one or more general aviation airports in each county-level region in TAR by 2035, it says.

Under the plans, TAR will have, by 2025, vigorously promoted the construction of general aviation airports and supporting security facilities with the aim to build 14 new general aviation airports, it adds.

Under the latest announced plans, it said, TAR will have 59 general aviation airports by 2035, basically realizing that each county has one or more general aviation airports, while aviation services will cover more than 95 per cent of the region’s population.

"The long-term goal of TAR is to achieve leapfrog development in general aviation by 2035," the report added.

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