The track for China’s controversial railway to Tibet will be completed this year and trial runs on the line begin in the summer of 2006, the country’s railway minister said Monday.
The railway should open in 2007, the official Xinhua News Agency quoted Railways Minister Liu Zhijun as telling Tibet delegates to the annual meeting of China’s parliament.
China says the first railway to Tibet will slash transportation costs and drive economic development. Critics say it will cement Chinese control over the Himalayan region and dilute its Buddhist culture.
The 1,142-kilometer (708-mile) line from the western city of Golmud to Tibet’s capital of Lhasa crosses mountains passes up to 5,072 meters (16,737 feet) high.
Communist troops occupied Tibet in 1951 and Beijing says the territory has been part of China for centuries. Many Tibetans say they were independent for most of that time.
According to Xinhua, Liu said the railway will cost 26.2 billion yuan (US$3.1 billion;€2.4 billion) slightly lower than previous official figures.
Liu said 8 percent of that cost, or about 2 billion yuan (US$240 million; €180 million) was budgeted for protection of wildlife, water sources and plant life along the line.
