China Started Constructing Rail Line up on Arunachal Pradesh Border

China has started its work on a strategically significant railway line along the Arunachal pradesh Border. This is the second major rail link by China to Tibet. This rail line will link Sichuan province with Nyingchi, the city that lies near the China’s border with India’s Arunachal Pradesh. The President of China has called the project as a major step to safeguard the national unity and a significant move to promote the economic and social development of the western region.

Significance of the Project

The Chinese expert highlighted that this rail line project is significant because of following reasons:

1. This is the second rail line route linking the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) to the Hinterland. The rail project has been started on the line of Qinghai-Tibet railway line that was constructed in 2006 to connect Lhasa to the hinterland.
2. The rail line will run up to the Nyingchi near the border with India. This would further link to both Lhasa and Chengdu which is the provincial capital of Sichuan.
3. This entire rail line will run from Chengdu to Lhasa. It will be connecting the two capitals of TAR and Sichuan.
4. The project includes a 525 metre-long bridge across the Yarlung Zangbo river (Name of Brahmaputra in Tibet). The bridge has been built at a height of 3,350 metres.
5. The rail route will cut the journey between two provinces from 48 hours to 13 hours.
6. The rail route will act as a fast track for the delivery of strategic materials in case a crisis happens at the border areas.