Key facts on world's highest railway

The new railway line linking Tibet with the rest of China was opened on Saturday.   

Following are some key facts about the railway:   

* The 1,142-km  railway is the world's highest and links Golmud in Qinghai province to the Tibetan capital Lhasa. The route is characterised by harsh terrain, snow-covered climate and frequent earthquakes.   

* Built at a total cost of $3.76 billion, the railway makes it possible to travel from Lhasa to the Chinese capital Beijing in just 48 hours.   

* The line climbs 16,640 feet above sea level and runs across Tibet's snow-covered plateau, known as the roof of the world.   

* More than 960 kilometers of the railway was built at 13,120 feet above sea level and 550 km in areas of frozen earth, with 30 railway stations.   

* Researchers at the Beijing-based National Climate Centre say winter temperatures, expected to rise by another 1-2 degree Celsius by 2050, could melt the frozen ground beneath the railway affecting its operation.   

* At its peak, the railway will have the Tangula Station, the world's highest-altitude railway station.   

* The rail link is one of the world's great engineering feats, accomplished by sometimes boring tunnels through ice as construction crews breathed bottled oxygen.   

* With 20,000 builders involved, the project has generated about 7,000 tonnes of garbage or five tonnes per day during its construction.