World's highest rail track reaches Everest gateway Shigatse

[webfact]

World's highest rail track reaches Everest gateway Shigatse
By Daojun Wu, for CNN

(CNN) -- The world's highest railway rolls even closer to Mount Everest this month when China inaugurates a stretch of track connecting the Tibetan cities of Lhasa and Shigatse.

Traversing valleys, mountains and crossing the glacier-fed Brahmaputra River, the line takes in breathtaking views of snow-capped peaks and majestic plateaus as it wends from the territory's capital to its second city.

The track is an extension of the Qinghai-Tibet line -- an engineering marvel named the "closest stretch of railway to the sky" after it first carried passengers above 5,000 meters (16,404 feet) in 2006.

Full story: http://edition.cnn.com/2014/08/03/travel/china-tibet-railway-everest/index.html

[cnnews]2014-08-04[/cnnews]

[craigt3365]

That would be an amazing trip.

[Steely Dan]

A wonderful opportunity for Han Chinese tourists to throw garbage out of the window onto the Tibetan plain. I would still love to go, Tibet is incredible in it's stark beauty.


Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[craigt3365]

Though I would normally 100% agree with you, having spent many months traveling around China/Tibet/Nepal, they seem to do a good job on this train:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qinghai%E2%80%93Tibet_Railway#Economic_and_environmental_impact

 

Trash and excrement are collected into two sealed containers in each car (not thrown on the tracks), they are taken out at the big stations

 

 

I remember on the Trans-Siberia, they locked the toilets just before coming into the stations...which sucked because the toilets in the stations were absolutely horrible.  Not that the ones on the train were much better.

[robhufton]

All they need now is a fenicular railway to the top and everyone can conquer Everest :-)

[KhnomKhnom]

Red China's violent theft of Tibet and subsequent tyrannical murdering domination of those peaceful people has added another disgrace as Red China is moving as much of their population into Tibet as possible.  The extra Han Chinese young men, born to forced one-child families (female babies less desirable and thus killed and organs sold), are told that the Tibetan women are hot and off to Tibet this surplus value groups go.  Tibetan culture also is destroyed.

 

Thai should keep this infiltration of occupiers happens, too, with a new railway.  The Tibet pattern of this train tells Thailand just what to expect.  Of course, Thailand will not need to be machine gunned;  it will simply be purchased at bargain prices.

[daveAustin]

All they need now is a fenicular railway to the top and everyone can conquer Everest :-)

Beat me to it, though it's not like this line is buzzing right past the peak.

[RickBradford]

Though I would normally 100% agree with you, having spent many months traveling around China/Tibet/Nepal, they seem to do a good job on this train:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qinghai%E2%80%93Tibet_Railway#Economic_and_environmental_impact

 

Trash and excrement are collected into two sealed containers in each car (not thrown on the tracks), they are taken out at the big stations

 

 

I remember on the Trans-Siberia, they locked the toilets just before coming into the stations...which sucked because the toilets in the stations were absolutely horrible.  Not that the ones on the train were much better.

One solution that suggests itself is to go to the toilet before the train comes into the station.

[craigt3365]

 

Though I would normally 100% agree with you, having spent many months traveling around China/Tibet/Nepal, they seem to do a good job on this train:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qinghai%E2%80%93Tibet_Railway#Economic_and_environmental_impact

 

Trash and excrement are collected into two sealed containers in each car (not thrown on the tracks), they are taken out at the big stations

 

 

I remember on the Trans-Siberia, they locked the toilets just before coming into the stations...which sucked because the toilets in the stations were absolutely horrible.  Not that the ones on the train were much better.

One solution that suggests itself is to go to the toilet before the train comes into the station.

 

 

Easy to do if you actually know when a station is coming up, or aren't sleeping.  Parts of that trip get pretty boring after 10 hours of pretty much nothing but trees! 55555

 

None of the car attendants spoke English.  No stations were announced.  And few, if any of them, really wanted to deal with foreigners...maybe anybody else for that matter.  LOL

 

I had a guide book that listed every station, but not every train stopped at every station.  Very confusing, but a great trip.
 

[Payboy]

Take cover from the avalanche when the first tourist coughs up a Chinese oyster.