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The rail transport in mainland China is one of the largest in the world. With 70,058 km it ranks third. An historical overview of rail transport in mainland China will be given in this article, including the Qing Dynasty (before 1912) and the Republic Of China (1912 to 1949) eras, and present time under the People's Republic Of China (1949 onwards). HISTORY The first Chinese train rode in 1876 in Shanghai . PASSENGER TRANSPORT See Also: Passenger Transport of China by Railway . Passenger trains offer an easy and affordable way of getting around in China.]] DATA ''Total:'' 70,058 km (including 5,400 km of provincial "local" rails) '' Standard Gauge :'' 68,000 km 1.435-m gauge (18,668 km electrified; 20,250 km double track) '' Narrow Gauge :'' 3,600 km 0.750-m gauge local industrial lines (1998 est.) '' Dual Gauge :'' 22,640 km (not included in total) (2003) Currently, China is being served by about twenty principal domestic railway routes. HIGH SPEED RAIL Transrapid (a German Maglev company, which has a test track in Emsland , Germany ), constructed the first operational maglev railway in the world, from Shanghai to Its Pudong Airport . It was inaugurated in 2002 and will be extended to 160 km for the EXPO 2010. There is an ambitious plan for more High Speed Rail by 2005. QINGHAI-TIBET RAILWAY ''Main article: Qingzang Railway '' The Qinghai - Tibet railway, or '''Qingzang Railway''' (青藏铁路), is a railway that will connect Xining , Qinghai Province to Lhasa , Tibet Autonomous Region in the People's Republic Of China . The 815- Kilometre (506-mile) section from Xining , Qinghai to Golmud , Qinghai opened to traffic in 1984 . The remaining 1,080-kilometre (670-mile) section is currently under construction from Golmud to Lhasa . It includes the now completed 3,345-metre Yangbajain No. 1 tunnel which is 4,264 metres Above Sea Level and located 80 km NW of the regional capital Lhasa. More than 960 kilometers, or over four-fifths of the railway, will be built at an altitude of more than 4,000 meters, and over half of it will be laid on frozen earth. This railway will be the first railway that connects China proper and Tibet, which due to its altitude and terrain is the last province in China that has no railways. The railway's highest point, the Tanggula Mountain Pass , is 5,072 Meters above sea level. Thirty Railway Stations are to be built, among them Tanggula Mountain railway station, which at 5,067.88 m will be the world's highest (Cóndor station, at 4,786 m, on the Rio Mulatos-Potosí line, Bolivia , and La Galera at 4,781 m in Peru being the next highest). Rail-laying in Tibet was launched in both directions, towards Tanggula Mountain and Lhasa, from Anduo Railway Station on 22 June 2004 . When the railway construction that started on 29 June 2001 is complete (expected in 2005 ; signalling and track testing require another 6 to 12 months), it will be possible to travel from Lhasa to Beijing in 50 hours. The railway will later be extended to Zhangmu via Shigatse (Xigaze) to the west and Dali via Nyingchi ( Linzhi ) to the east. Bombardier Transportation are to provide 361 high-altitude passenger carriages with special enriched-oxygen and UV-protection systems, to be delivered between December 2005 and May 2006 . Of these, 53 will be luxury sleeper carriages for tourist service {Link without Title} . The construction of the railway is part of the China Western Development strategy, an attempt to develop the western provinces of China, which are much less developed than eastern China. SEE ALSO
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