More than 960 kilometres, or over four-fifths of the railway will be built at an altitude of over 4,000 metres. And more than half of it will be laid on earth that is frozen for long periods of the year. The Qinghai-Tibet railway will span 1,118 kilometres, and start from Xining, capital of Qinghai Province, and end in Lhasa, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region. A 564-kilometre section of the railway will be in Qinghai and the other 554 kilometre will lie in Tibet. The railway line between Xining and Golmud, built 10 years ago, is in full operation at present.
China plans to complete the whole project in six years.