The capacity of Qinghai-Tibet Railway has been continuously improved, and the passenger and freight volume has reached record highs.

Xinhua News Agency, Xining, June 28 (Reporter Wang Jun, Luo Xiaofei) At 1 pm on the 27th, another full train of Qinghai-Tibet Railway entered Tibet and passed through Qiangtang grassland in northern Tibet. Under the blue sky, cattle and sheep flock, the lake is clear, the snow-capped mountains are crystal clear, and tourists in the car take out their mobile phones to take pictures as a souvenir. In June, the snowy plateau entered the most beautiful season, and the trains entering and leaving Tibet also ushered in the busiest time of the year. Along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, there are famous scenic spots in China and even in the world, such as Qinghai Lake, Jinyintan, Kunlun Mountain, Hoh Xil and Qiangtang Grassland in northern Tibet. In recent years, Qinghai-Tibet Railway Company has actively joined hands with the tourism departments of Qinghai-Tibet provinces to create a series of "Damei Qinghai-Tibet" tourism products, and launched several special tourist trains from Xining to Chaka Salt Lake and Xining to Qinghai Lake. The "Steel Road" has strung together the "pearl chain" of tourism along the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which has promoted the development of "plateau tour" to upgrade continuously.

The great transport capacity and convenient advantages of the railway have further enhanced the tourism enthusiasm in the plateau, and more and more tourists, businessmen and pilgrims are going to Qinghai and Xizang. According to statistics, in the summer vacation in 2015 alone, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway operated a total of 598 trains in and out of Tibet, sending 2.01 million passengers, an increase of 67% year-on-year, and set a record high of 64,000 passengers in a single day. Dong Guiqi, an engineer of the Planning and Statistics Department of Qinghai-Tibet Railway Company, said that in order to better serve the economic and social development of the two provinces of Qinghai-Tibet, since it was opened to traffic for 10 years, several freight express trains, such as Tianlu Express and Qinghai-Tibet Freight Express, have been set up, covering five major regions, namely Xining, Delingha, Golmud, Lhasa and Shigatse, opening up a safe, convenient, low-carbon and environmentally-friendly green logistics channel for major enterprises and shippers along the route.

At the same time, by deepening the freight reform, the railway department has implemented a modern logistics service system that opens up receiving goods, cancels intermediate links and provides tracking services. It has successively built 18 logistics bases and loading points along the line, and the proportion of industrial salt, potash fertilizer, coal, aluminum ingots, iron ore powder and local specialty products has reached more than 60%.

In August 2009, as an important supporting project of Qinghai-Tibet Railway, Naqu Logistics Center of Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the world’s highest modern logistics center, was put into use. At present, another batch of railway logistics bases such as Golmud, Rassasi and Shigatse are under construction. In addition, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Company will also transform the existing freight station, further increase the investment in loading and unloading machinery and containerized equipment, and continuously meet the needs of the modern logistics market. The reporter learned that since 2006, 75% of Xizang’s freight volume has been borne by the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, and the railway’s transportation capacity is more than 40 times that of Xizang.

Statistics of Qinghai-Tibet Railway Company show that by the end of May 2016, Qinghai-Tibet Railway Company had transported 115 million passengers and 448 million tons of goods in 10 years. The passenger and freight volume increased from 6.482 million passengers and 24.91 million tons in 2006 to 23.384 million passengers and 44.049 million tons in 2015 respectively.

In recent years, the country is accelerating the construction of the South Asia Grand Passage and the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor. In order to meet the international freight demand, on May 15th this year, China’s first international freight train bound for South Asia was transported by Qinghai-Tibet Railway and Largo Railway, and then successfully arrived at Xigaze West Railway Station, and then transferred to the country by road to arrive in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal.

Yang Haijiang, director of the Transportation Planning Office of the Planning and Statistics Department of Qinghai-Tibet Railway Company, said that "South Asia International Freight Train" is the first international intermodal train between China and South Asian countries. The whole journey takes about 10 days, saving 35 days compared with traditional sea transportation, which not only effectively reduces the logistics cost, but also opens up a convenient passage to South Asia for "Made in China". Qinghai-Tibet Railway Company will continue to operate international freight trains through public rail transport according to the national demand, and support the national opening-up strategy.