The railway to Lhasa is expected to bring a large increase in the number of Chinese labourers and entrepreneurs moving to Tibetan areas. Publicity for the project has already attracted significant numbers of migrant workers. Field survey work on the railway began on 1 March and is scheduled to be completed in October, according to Xinhua. There has been some criticism within China of the economic and environmental costs of the railway project. Willy Wo Lap-Lam adds that few Chinese academics or government members are known to have expressed concerns about the railway due to the personal interest that Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Premier Zhu Rongji have reportedly expressed in its success.
Most official statements deal with the potential environmental impacts of the railway.
China is known to have employed similar restrictions in the past to keep construction sites within a limited corridor. No mention is made of the potential environmental impacts of the increased migration and resource exploitation that the railway is likely to bring. If it's a straight line though with the bare minimum of service facilities the environmental impacts will be limited. The environmentalist also said that the biggest threat to the environment posed by the railway is resource extraction. The railway alters the economics of ore extraction.