China’s 1st electrified bullet train in Tibet

Beijing, June 25

China on Friday operationalised its first fully electrified bullet train in the remote Himalayan region of Tibet, connecting the provincial capital Lhasa and Nyingchi, a strategically located Tibetan border town close to Arunachal Pradesh.

The 435.5-km Lhasa-Nyingchi section of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway has been inaugurated ahead of the centenary celebrations of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) on July 1.

The first electrified railway in Tibet Autonomous Region opened Friday morning, linking Lhasa with Nyingchi as “Fuxing” bullet trains enter official operation on the plateau region, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The Sichuan-Tibet Railway will be the second railway into Tibet after the Qinghai-Tibet railway. It will go through the southeast of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, one of the world’s most geologically active areas.

Qian Feng, director of the research department at the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University, told the official daily Global Times earlier that “if a crisis happens at the China-India border, the railway will provide a great convenience for China’s delivery of strategic materials”. — PTI

Fire at martial arts centre kills 18

A fire tore through a martial arts training centre in China during the early hours of Friday morning, killing 18 persons, with one state media outlet saying most of the dead were children who were staying there. It is unclear what caused the fire, which injured 16 persons, four of whom are in serious condition. — Reuters