A transformative era dawned for Tibet as its railway infrastructure exploded during the 14th Five-Year Plan. Official data from China Railway Qinghai-Tibet Group shows the Lhasa-Nyingchi Railway ferried 5.75 million travelers and 1.738 million tons of freight from 2021-2025.
Complementing this, Lhasa-Shigatse moved 7.955 million passengers alongside 4.284 million tons of cargo. The flagship Qinghai-Tibet line dwarfed these with 12.25 million+ passengers and over 34.5 million tons exchanged with the mainland. Together, they’ve fueled socio-economic vitality and met essential mobility demands.
The ‘Y’-shaped network—merging Lhasa-Nyingchi, Lhasa-Shigatse, and Qinghai-Tibet—catapulted capabilities. Rail mileage in Tibet surpassed 1,187.8 km in 2021, a historic leap. Record-breaking 2023 saw 2.959 million passengers on Qinghai-Tibet routes.
By 2025, 24 tourist trains symbolized booming leisure travel. Innovations like high-altitude stations at Yanshiping and Budongquan transformed lives for 10,000+ pastoralists in remote areas. Festive peaks saw tailored transport for holidays, student returns, and multilingual aids, cementing railways as economic lifelines.
