World’s highest tunnel for high-speed trains linked up in northwestern China

Paving the way for the operation of the line linking Gansu Province and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the world’s highest tunnel for high-speed trains in northwestern China has been completely linked up.
 
Reaching altitudes of up to 3,607.4 metres, the 16.3-kilometre-long tunnel passes through the Qilian Mountains with two sections and a bridge. Construction work on the tunnel began in 2009.
 
The tunnel’s joining means the most difficult part for the Lanxin high-speed railway has been solved, said Guo Yuhong, an official in charge of the tunnel project from China Railway 20th Group Co., Ltd.
 
The 1,776-km Lanxin high-speed railway links Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu, with Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang. It runs across Gansu and Qinghai provinces to Xinjiang, traversing the wind-ravaged Gobi Desert.
 
The line is planned to be put into use at the end of this year. It is designed for trains running at more than 200 km per hour which will reduce the train journey between Lanzhou and Urumqi to eight hours from about 20 hours at present.