On March 26, 2026, with the release of the bidding announcement for the construction drawing review of the electrification renovation project of the Golmud Lhasa section of the Qinghai Tibet Railway, the comprehensive upgrade of this world-class plateau railway officially entered the countdown.

As the final work of the national 14th Five Year Plan for railway development, this project is led by the Sig Second Line Construction Command of China Railway Qinghai Tibet Group Co., Ltd., with a total investment of 13.746 billion yuan and a construction period of 2.5 years.

This is not only a systematic renewal of the nearly 20 year old lines, but also a key extension of Xizang's first electrified railway to the deep snow.

According to the plan, the project will be completed in 2029, when the Fuxing high-speed train will achieve direct travel from Xining to Lhasa for the first time, and the millennium Ping'an Road will officially enter a new era of all electric drive.

Double the annual transportation capacity

As the only major northward artery in Xizang, the Qinghai Tibet Railway is responsible for more than 90% of the transportation of goods in and out of Tibet. However, with the number of passengers entering and leaving Tibet exceeding 12.25 million during the 14th Five Year Plan period, reaching a historic high, the current situation of non electrified single track in the Kela section has become a fatal weakness. At present, the utilization rate of the line capacity in this section has reached 98%, which is in an extremely saturated state. The existing diesel locomotives have severe power attenuation in the Tanggula Mountain area above 5000 meters above sea level, resulting in a train traction rating of only about 3000 tons.

This electrification renovation will completely rewrite this situation. The project adopts a direct power supply method with a return line, and a new traction substation and power supply workshop will be built along the entire line. The train traction capacity will be increased to over 4000 tons, and the annual transportation capacity is expected to jump from the current 12 million tons to 30 million tons, with a capacity increase of 150%. At the same time, the arrival and departure lines at 32 stations along the entire line, except for Lhasa Station, will be extended to 880 meters. The passenger facilities at the core stations of Anduo, Nagqu, and Dangxiong will also be renovated to meet the parking needs of 20 car high-speed trains, and the proportion of high-speed train stops will increase to over 85%.

960 meters high altitude refined, 550 kilometers frozen soil monitoring

The Gela section has a total length of 1136.42 kilometers, of which 960 kilometers are located at an altitude of over 4000 meters and 550 kilometers pass through continuous permafrost areas, making it the most difficult railway to construct in the world. This renovation is not just a simple replacement of the locomotive, but a systematic and precise surgery involving the roadbed, bridges and tunnels, and power supply.

In order to carry out construction in the forbidden zone of life, the project has introduced multiple black technologies. Intelligent upgrades have been made to existing facilities such as high-altitude heat rods and gravel ventilated roadbeds, with the installation of over 2000 ground temperature monitoring sensors to achieve real-time warning of frozen soil melting, ensuring that the roadbeds remain stable as rocks under electrified high-temperature loads. In terms of logistical support, the Golmud locomotive depot and Lhasa locomotive maintenance base will be renovated and reinforced. The Golmud South locomotive turnaround depot will add electric locomotive maintenance facilities and equip emergency hot standby diesel locomotives to build a dual insurance operation and maintenance system. In addition, road shoulders will be added to some roadbed sections to address equipment aging issues in high-altitude and hypoxic environments.

12 hour access to snowy areas

The ultimate significance of this project lies in breaking down the technical standard barriers of the railway into Tibet. After the opening of the Lalin Railway in 2021, Xizang has the first electrified railway, but the Golmud Lhasa section of the main channel into Tibet still stays in the era of internal combustion, resulting in the inability to fully release the transportation capacity of the Lalin Railway. This reconstruction will enable the Golmud Lhasa section to achieve comprehensive unification of technical standards with the Xige section and Lalin section that have completed quality improvement and reconstruction, and build a fully electrified high-speed railway network connecting Qinghai and Xizang.

After electrification, the average running speed of the train will be increased from the current 100 km/h to 120 to 140 km/h. The travel time from Xining to Lhasa is expected to be reduced from the current 21 hours to about 12 hours, truly realizing the dream of having Pita bread soaked in Lamb Soup in the morning and having buttered tea in the evening. At the economic level, the project will directly drive the development of mineral and tourism resources along the line, and is expected to bring more than 20 billion yuan of incremental tourism income to Xizang every year, and promote the export of characteristic agricultural and livestock products in the pastoral areas of northern Tibet, becoming an accelerator for rural revitalization. Keywords: railway, infrastructure, Qinghai Tibet Railway

From the steel dragon crossing Tanggula Mountain in 2006, to the Fuxing Express speeding through the Xige section in 2023, and to the comprehensive electrification of the Gela section in 2026, the Qinghai Tibet Railway is completing a magnificent transformation from being able to walk to walking well and fast.Editor/Cheng Liting