Editorial | Tibet to Nepal rail line a daunting challenge for China
- Proposed link faces geological, geopolitical and technical problems, and would join a long list of China’s engineering marvels if completed
China’s history since ancient times of architectural and engineering marvels means that no project can be considered a non-starter.
Construction of a railway line from Tibet to Nepal is a decades-old wish for leaders on both sides and just 121km (75 miles) of track remains to be built.
A recent meeting between State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Nepalese counterpart in Shandong province raised hopes by giving the go-ahead for a feasibility study by surveyors.
But distance is the least of the problems; geological, geopolitical and technical challenges have to be surmounted.
The railway would cross the Himalayas from the southern Tibetan city of Gyirong to Kathmandu, more than 98 per cent involving tunnels and bridges through complex geographical conditions and protected areas.
As the region is one of the most seismically active in the world, earthquakes are commonplace and landslips, rockfalls, high ground temperatures and water erosion are construction challenges.
