Tibet to get first Fuxing bullet train in June

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) -- Fuxing bullet trains will run in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region for the first time in June this year when a new rail line opens to traffic, China's railway operator said.

With the launch of the service, the Fuxing bullet train series will be available in all provincial-level regions on the Chinese mainland, said the China State Railway Group Co. Ltd

Xinhua reported that track-laying work for the rail line connecting regional capital Lhasa and Nyingchi in eastern Tibet was completed on Dec. 31, 2020. It will be the first electrified railroad in Tibet.

The Fuxing bullet train to run in Tibet will be a customised version of the one which runs at 160 km per hour, a source told Xinhua. It will have oxygen supply equipment and two kinds of power traction: internal combustion and electric power, since more than 90 percent of the track will pass through areas about 3,000 meters above sea level.

Internal combustion will be used so that the trains can start internal combustion devices to cope with emergencies on the plateau, the source said.

With a design speed of 160 km per hour, the 435-km rail line passes through 47 tunnels and 120 bridges, according to Tibet Railway Construction Co. Ltd, which is building the railway.

By the end of 2020, Fuxing bullet trains had safely operated over 836 million km, transporting 827 million passengers.

So far, Fuxing electric multiple units trains in service have covered the whole speed range of 160 km per hour to 350 km per hour, which marks an important step in railway technical innovation in China.