Transportation

Alongside fast and steady economic development, Tibet has witnessed a breakthrough in construction of basic infrastructure. In the past five years, it made efforts to speed up construction of highway networks and, at the same time, built the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, Nyingchi Airport, and the renovated Golmud-Lhasa oil pipeline. This laid a good foundation for a comprehensive transport network composed mainly of highways and the railway, and supported by aviation and pipeline transportation. In 2005, Tibet moved 3.6561 million tons of goods, an increase of 27.2 percent over 2004, and 4.7947 million people, a rise of 41.6 percent.

From 2006 to 2010, Tibet will speed up construction of a better transport system, renovate the Sichuan-Tibet, Yunnan-Tibet and other trunk highways, complete construction of supportive facilities for the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, and strive to start construction of the Lhasa-Nyingchi and Lhasa-Xigaze railways. In the meantime, efforts will be made to prepare for construction of the Yunnan-Tibet Railway. Efforts will also be made to improve the aviation system, build Ngari Airport, and renovate Qamdo Bamda Airport so as to increase their annual handling capacity to 1.85 million people.

Highways

Recent years have seen more State funds invested in highway construction. From 2001 to 2005, Tibet used 14.692 billion Yuan for construction of highways, adding some 12,900 km of roads, and close to 2,000 km of the Qinghai-Tibet, Sichuan-Tibet and China-Nepal highways were renovated. At present, Tibet has built a highway network composed mainly of five national highways and 15 provincial-level roads; it centers on Lhasa, Xigaze, Qamdo and Nagqu. In 2005, 3.56 million tons of goods were transported via highways, an increase of 29.9 percent; and moved 3.85 million people, a 50.4 percent increase. Highways open to traffic extend 43,716 km.

There has also been a breakthrough in construction of rural highways. In the past five years, Tibet has undertaken 343 rural highway construction projects, involving a total investment of 1.99 billion Yuan; they include construction of 7,090 km of highways and 103 large and medium-sized road bridges. By the end of 2005, of the 683 townships and 5,931 villages in Tibet, 658 townships (96 percent of the total or 12 percent higher than 2000) and 4,472 villages (75 percent of the total or 11 percent higher than 2000) had gained road access. Easy access to highways makes it easy for the locals to transport their products out of their own locality and helps development of rural transportation business.

However, there are still 36 countries without access to an asphalted road, and 25 townships and 1,459 villages with no highway access; Tibet has the only county in China which has no access to highway. From 2006 to 2010, a total of 43 billion Yuan of investment will be made in reconstruction and renovation of 17,600 km of highways, including 4,500 km of rural roads. By 2010, of the 683 townships in Tibet, only Gandain and other townships in Medog County will have only standard mule/horse routes, and the other 681 townships will have access to highways; and upwards of 80 percent of villages will enjoy access to highways; the highway mileage will reach 50,000 km. The State will also invest more in the renovation of the Qinghai-Tibet, Sichuan-Tibet, Xinjiang-Tibet, China-Nepal and Yunnan-Tibet Highways. Of these, all but the Xinjiang-Tibet highway will be basically asphalted. Except when there are extremely serious natural calamities, these highways will remain in service all year round.

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Aviation

Flying over Tibet was deemed impossible in the past due to the high altitude. Today, it has become the fastest transport means of getting in and out of the region. Aviation services began in 1965 when a plane succeeded in flying to Lhasa from Chengdu in the Chinese hinterland. → From then on, aviation business in Tibet boomed and has now enjoyed 40 years of safe flying. The aviation network centers on Lhasa, and there are regular flights between Lhasa and Katmandu in Nepal and other parts of China, such as Chengdu, Chongqing, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xi'an, Xining, Hong Kong, Zhongdian, and Bamda in Qamdo, 14 plateau routes with an average of some 80 flights per week. In 2005, Tibet handled 161,000 tons of cargo by air, an increase of 4.5 percent from the previous year, more than 75 per cent of it on the Chengdu-Lhasa route, and 944,700 passengers, an increase of 14.2 percent.

At present, aircraft used on Tibet flights are primarily the A340, A319 and the Boeing B757. During the peak time, they carry a daily average of 2,200 people. In 1998, Southwest Airlines purchased four-engine A340-300 jumbo planes, the largest ever adopted for western China.

Given the special conditions in Lhasa, planes flying in reach Lhasa mostly in the morning, while outward flights must leave by 2 or 3pm, well before sunset. In 2006, CAAC joined hand with the Boeing Co. of the United States to upgrade the RNP precision navigating system for flights to Tibet. This will help reduce possibilities for delay or flights being forced to turn back due to fierce weather, and make a reasonable adjustment with regard to flight movements, thereby increasing safety and flight efficiency.

Lhasa Gonggar Airport

Located in Gyazoling Township of Gonggar County, Shannan Prefecture, the airport lies at an elevation of 3,569.5 meters, and is 53 km from downtown Lhasa. To cope with the unique air currents on the plateau and for the sake of flight safety, the airport is equipped with 4,000 meter long runways, state-of-the-art communications system, power supply systems, weather broadcasting system and ground satellite communications system. In January 2004, the new airport apron covering an area of 10,000 square meters went into service, capable of accommodating 600 persons per hour at peak time. Flights now entering or leaving the airport include those from Lhasa to cities such as Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Xi’an, Xining, Guangzhou and Shanghai, as well as one from Lhasa to Katmandu, capital of Nepal. The airport has established links with the Bamda Airport in Qamdo in eastern Tibet.

Bamda Airport in Qamdo

Boasting the world’s highest elevation (4,334 meters) and longest runway (5,500 meters), the airport is 715 km from Lhasa Gonggar Airport. April 2005 marked the 10th anniversary of the airport’s safe operation during which it handled 3,515 flights, delivering some 310,000 people and over 3,600 tons of goods. Its passenger transport increased from 7,663 in 1995 to some 48,000 in 2004; and its passengers and goods transport increased at an annual average rate of 25.1 percent.

Nyingchi Airport

Located in Nyingchi, this is the third airport for civilian use in Tibet. Construction of the airport, at an elevation of 2,954 meters, began in October 2004. Involving a total investment of 780 million Yuan, it is designed to accommodate B737-700, A319-100, DHCS-400 and DON328-300. The runway extends 3,000 meters and is 45 meters wide. Since the completion of the airport on July 12, 2006, it has seen successful flights. The newly opened Chengdu-Nyingchi route is the first choice of those who visit Tibet. In 2010, it is expected to handle 120,000 passengers a year.

The Qinghai-Tibet Railway

On October 15, 2005, the entire the Qinghai-Tibet Railway line was basically completed, ending Tibet’s isolation from the national rail network. The 1,956-km railway link begins in Xining, capital of Qinghai Province and goes to Lhasa, capital of Tibet Autonomous Region. This includes the first-phase project—the 814 km-long stretch from Xining to Golmud that began operations in 1984 and the second-phase project—the 1,142-km stretch between Golmud and Lhasa running south along Nachitai, Wudaolaing, Tutu River and then crossing Tanggula Mountain into the Tibet Autonomous Region, and then passing through Amdo, Nagqu, Damxung and Yangbajain to Lhasa City (including 1,110 km of line newly constructed and an original stretch of 32 km that was rebuilt). There are all together 681 bridges and 1,988 culverts whose length accounts for eight percent of the total length; 34 stations are established along the railway and the designed speed of the trains reaches 140 km/hour.

The Qinghai-Tibet Railway is the plateau railway with the highest altitude and the longest line in the world. Crossing Tanggula Mountain, the highest point on the line is 5,072 meters above sea level. The railway covers 960-km at an altitude of more than 4,000 meters and over 550 km within the "frozen earth" [permafrost] area, along with difficult marshland and wetland areas. The protection of the fragile ecosystem, the lack of oxygen at high-altitude and the perennial frozen ground were three of the serious challenges met in the construction of the line and the need to develop unique, advanced technology made it a most onerous project. However, through many years of research and examination, Chinese scientists made sufficient demonstrations and preparations to break through all the operational technical "hard nuts" providing a reliable scientific and technical guarantee for the construction of the line. At present, according to survey by the construction supervision department, the acceptance rate of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway is 100 percent, the superior rate reaches over 91.8 percent, and all the construction is in accordance with the design requirements and the quality of the project is also up to superior standard.

Trial operation of the railway on July 1, 2006 turned out to be a great success. The railway will go into formal operation on July 1, 2007. China’s railway department has approved four services: Beijing-Lhasa, Chengdu (Chongqing)-Lhasa, Xining (Lanzhou)-Lhasa and Shanghai (Guangzhou)-Lhasa. Of the four, only the Shanghai (Guangzhou)-Lhasa train operates every two days, and all the others operate on the daily basis. By August 14, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway transported a total of 200,000 passengers in 45 days. And people visiting Tibet will increase by 400,000 over that in 2005. The railway is also a boon for goods transport business. The monthly handling capacity is expected to reach 150,000 tons. Thus far, goods shipped into Tibet are mainly food grains, articles for daily use, coal, cement and buildinig materials; and goods transported out of Tibet include mainly native produce.

The State plans also to build Gansu-Tibet, Yunnan-Tibet and Sichuan-Tibet Railways.

Oil Pipelines

Before the 1970s, oil and finished oil used in Tibet had to be transported by automobiles via the Qinghai-Tibet and Sichuan-Tibet highways. Owing to the excessively long distance, oil consumed on the way accounted for one-third of the total transported volume. In addition to the high costs, the transportation was full of danger.

On May 30, 1972, Premier Zhou Enlai gave the signal for the construction of an oil pipeline from Golmud in Qinghai to Lhasa to help solve the oil shortage problem confronting Tibet. The pipeline reached Lhasa in November 1976 and went into service in October 1977. The 1,080-km-long pipeline is the longest of its kind in China, and the highest in the world. There are 11 pump stations, and one oil diversion station along the route. An oil depot was built in Lhasa. Reconstruction of the oil depot was undertaken to double its oil holding capacity from 1984 to 1985.

Over the past 20 years or so, the oil pipeline harvested good economic results. In 2005, more than 120,000 tons of oil had been transported into Tibet through the pipeline, a figure which is basically about the same with 2004.

Efforts will also be made to undertake construction of oil pipelines from Lhasa to Gonggar, Nyingchi and Xigaze, and from Gonggar to Zetang, so as to gradually form the pipeline transportation network centered on Lhasa.

Posts and telecommunications

According to statistics, in 2005, the total value of postal services and telecommunications business in Tibet reached 1.641 billion Yuan, an increase of 21.6 percent over the previous year. This includes 105 million Yuan of postal services, up 5.0 percent, and 1.536 billion Yuan of telecommunication business, a rise of 23.3 percent. In the year, 1,200 phone lines were added, bringing the total capacity to 330,500 lines. The number of added fixed telephone subscribers was 146,900, bringing the total number to 525,300 including 495,000 urban subscribers and 30,300 rural ones. A total of 90,000 mobile phone lines were added, bringing the total capacity to 660,000. There are 469,300 mobile users, 72,700 of which were added in 2005. At the end of the year, the total number of the fixed and mobile telephone subscribers reached 995,000, an increase of 220,000 over the previous year and the telephone popularization rate reached 37 per 100 persons.

There are some 140 post offices in the TAR, maintaining express mail services with more than 200 large and medium-sized cities in the country. Moreover, the autonomous region has built the Lhasa Program Controlled Telephone Bureau, the Post and Telecommunications Building, the extensive cell phone system, a radio paging system covering five prefectures, seven IDR satellite ground stations, 73 VSAT satellite communication stations, 1,841 long-distance telephone lines, and 5,810-terminal automatic telephone exchanges, preliminarily forming a telecommunications network composed of program controlled exchanges, satellite communications, digital communications, mobile communications and other advanced means. According to statistics, by the end of 2005, the total length of fiber-optic cable in Tibet reached 22700 km, up 37.6 percent from the year before; the mobile telecommunications network covered developed towns and counties, main roads, traffic crossings and scenic spots; the fixed telecommunications network covered all the counties and towns and telephone lines linked 2,074 administrative villages, accounting for 35 percent of the total in Tibet, as part of the target that "various counties have access to the fiber-optic cable and mobile telecommunications network" and "telephone lines are put into use in all villages", and it also played important role in maintaining social stability and promoting economic and social progress.

Tibet will continue to promote the development of its telecommunications business. By 2010, the added fixed asset investment will reach three billion Yuan with the emphasis on speeding up the construction of postal and telecommunications facilities, gradually developing the postal services of administrative villages, improving the telecommunications conditions of the villages, and trying to provide telephone services for more than half of the population in the autonomous region and supply Internet service for more than half of the families in the urban areas, with 60 percent of the administrative villages gaining a telephone services including 718,000 fixed telephone subscribers and 939,000 mobile ones, and the number of Internet subscribers reaching 178,400 further reducing the gap in the telecommunications level between urban and rural areas.