Beijing, August 11, 2025 — China is set to begin construction this year on one of its most ambitious rail projects — a strategic Xinjiang–Tibet railway that will run partly near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India. The Xinjiang-Tibet Railway Company (XTRC) has been registered with a capital of 95 billion yuan (USD 13.2 billion) and is wholly owned by the state-run China State Railway Group, according to the South China Morning Post.

The planned route will connect Hotan in Xinjiang with Lhasa in Tibet, forming a roughly 2,000 km strategic corridor that links northwestern and southwestern China. This new line will merge the existing Lhasa–Shigatse route with a new Hotan–Shigatse section, traversing some of the world’s toughest terrain — including the Kunlun, Karakoram, Kailash and Himalayan ranges, glaciers, permafrost zones, and frozen rivers.

The project is part of China’s broader plan to build four railway lines linking Tibet with the rest of the country. Of the four, the Qinghai–Tibet Railway is already operational, while work continues on the Sichuan–Tibet and Yunnan–Tibet routes. The Xinjiang–Tibet line, long in the planning since 2008, will cement a high-altitude rail framework centred on Lhasa by 2035.

Strategic Significance Near the LAC
Sections of the railway will run close to the disputed border region, lending it defensive and logistical importance in an area with sparse infrastructure. China’s G219 highway, part of the route, already passes through Aksai Chin — territory India claims as its own and which was a major flashpoint in the 1962 India–China war.

The timing of the project is notable, coming just as New Delhi and Beijing have begun tentative steps toward normalising relations following four years of frozen ties due to the Eastern Ladakh military standoff. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping met last year on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Russia, and PM Modi is expected to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit later this month.

Engineering and Environmental Challenges
The Xinjiang–Tibet line will have an average elevation exceeding 4,500 metres, with winter temperatures dropping to -40°C and oxygen levels at just 44% of inland areas. Construction teams will have to address rapid machinery wear, high logistics costs, and fragile environmental conditions.

China’s Ministry of Transport confirmed in April that construction would start this year, following the 2022 launch of survey and design tenders.

Broader Infrastructure Push in Tibet
The railway is part of a wider Chinese push for mega infrastructure in Tibet, including the controversial USD 170 billion dam on the Brahmaputra River near Arunachal Pradesh — a project that has raised concerns in India and Bangladesh over downstream impacts. Beijing has defended the dam, insisting it will not harm lower riparian nations.

Alongside railway construction, XTRC’s registered business scope includes real estate, tourism, catering, accommodation, and international contracting — signalling Beijing’s intent to integrate economic development with strategic infrastructure in the high-altitude frontier.