Traveling at up to 16,000 for up to 1200 miles .... and you are in a train

I saw this this morning in the St. Pete Times.

http://www.sptimes.com/2006/06/30/Worldandnation/China_launches_record.shtml

China launches record high-altitude Sky Train to Tibet
By Wire services
Published June 30, 2006

BEIJING - In an occurrence that may dramatically alter the face of isolated Tibet, China has completed a staggeringly difficult railway across high-altitude terrain to the Tibetan capital of Lhasa.

When the inaugural train leaves Beijing on Saturday on the two-day trip, passengers will remain in sealed carriages as the train climbs to the Tibetan plateau and passes delicate tundra inhabited by antelope, yaks and wild donkeys.

Three trains a day, each carrying 900 passengers, will begin what is touted as a journey to and from the "roof of the world." As the so-called Sky Train traverses a peak elevation of 16,640 feet above sea level, oxygen will flow into the sealed carriages to keep passengers from keeling over with altitude sickness.

..more at link...

some pictures here http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.07/chinarail.html



The 1,200-mile rail line from Xining in western China to Lhasa, Tibet's provincial capital, traverses 342 miles of fragile permafrost and scales mountain passes 16,640 feet above sea level.

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Interesting what they did to protect the permafrost...