Government Announces Extension of Qinghai-Tibet Railway to Rikaze

Yu Yungui, a senior official in the Rikaze (Shigatse) prefectural government in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), announced that the government plans to extend the Tibet-Qinghai railway westward from Lhasa to Rikaze city, the TAR's second-largest city, according to an August 9 Xinhua report. The extension would total about 270 kilometers (about 170 miles). Yu said that officials expect the project to take three years, suggesting that it would be completed some time in 2009. Jampa Phuntsog (Xiangba Pingcuo), the Chairman of the TAR government, told reporters in March that he expects the railway to reach Rikaze during the period covered by the 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010), according to a March 13 China Tibet Information Center (CTIC) report.

The Chinese government also plans to construct railways from Lhasa to Linzhi (Nyingtri, or Nyingchi) prefecture, east of Lhasa, and to Yadong county (Dromo), southwest of Lhasa and near the border with the Indian state of Sikkim, according to a June 29 Xinhua report. The three railway lines extending beyond Lhasa will be complete within 10 years, according to the report. The Chinese government has long planned to extend the railway. A June 2001 Xinhua report published at the time construction on the Qinghai-Tibet railway began said, "After the project is completed, the railway will be extended to [Rikaze] and Linzhi in Tibet, as well as [to] Yunnan Province."

The Qinghai-Tibet railway began passenger service in July 2006. Advocacy groups, such as the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), have campaigned against the railway over concerns about the railway’s potential effects on Tibetan culture and the environment. The Chinese government acknowledged that the Qinghai-Tibet railway has the capacity to result in "an unprecedented mammoth transfer of resources" that would redraw the map of China's economic divisions, according to a March 2001 People's Daily op-ed.

A Canadian company that is conducting studies in Xietongmen (Shetongmon) county, near Rikaze, to develop a copper mining operation has taken the proactive step of permitting TibetInfoNet, an independent information service, to monitor the project and conduct an ongoing impact assessment study, according to a July 5 TibetInfoNet report. The company has not started mining operations yet, and may use the railway to transport ore, but the company "has displayed sensitivity toward the community and the land," according to the report.