Railway on the Roof of the World: Qinghai–Tibet line

Visit to get started learning STEM for free, and the first 200 people will get 20% off their annual premium subscription. ____________________________________________________________________________________ - Support Railways Explained on Patreon: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - Railways Explained online store: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ► Railways Explained aims to establish a WORLDWIDE COMMUNITY of all RAIL LOVERS, WORKERS AND EXPERTS, by creating regular, entertaining, and educational railway content of high quality. ► If you find yourself in at least one of these three groups, support this idea by SUBSCRIBING TO RAILWAYS EXPLAINED. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Today we’re going to talk about the railways in Tibet, or to be more precise Qinghai-Tibet railway line. This line currently holds the Guinness World Record for the world’s highest railway line, with the highest point reaching an altitude of 5,072 m, and due to the technical impossibility to overcome natural obstacles and lack of funds, the realization of this engineering miracle lasted several decades. Namely, the Tibet Plateau, also known as Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China, stretches out in the Chinese western regions, and with an average elevation of 3000-4000 meters, it is referred to as “the roof of the world.“ Due to the weather conditions and extremely fragile eco-environmental system, the construction of the line faced 3 serious issues that we discussed during the video. The first and main one was the permafrost in the subgrade of the railway embankment that had to be stabilized. The second was the lack of oxygen. Namely, about 85 percent of the Qinghai-Tibet railway line was built over 4,000 meters, which means that the oxygen level along the railway is only 50-60 percent of that at sea level. Also, the annual average temperature is below the freezing point. And the third major constraint was that this territory is home to a wealth of rare species, and it was necessary to implement special measures to preserve biodiversity. On the other hand, this project attracted many criticism, as it is seen by many as an Beijing’s attempt to strengthen political control of Tibet, facilitate Chinese immigration into the region and accelerate the dilution of Tibetan culture. Some have also voiced concerns that the railway will allow greater military presence in the Tibet Autonomous Region as well as facilitate Beijing’s exploitation of Tibet’s natural resources. In any case, this railway line remains an engineering marvel and will continue to be breathtaking. Literally. This video was sponsored by Brilliant. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Special thanks to our Patrons: David Brandon, Brendan McKeon, Linda Vainomae-Hoffmann, Andrew Saffrey, Myron York, Gerald Brady, Tim McKeoun, August Bigelow, Bill, Andebian, Raka Sidik, Jonas Christen, Duikboot, Nathan Walls, Jose Esparza, Ben Meakings, Alex Zaslavsky, Korawich Kavee, Paul Larsen, Dale Winke, Lucas Richter, Bence Hornák, Tealice, Misha, Sebastian, Xosé F. Estrada, panic, Mårten Hammarstrand, Ben Meakings, arthur, Hendrik Hinrichs, Robert P. Walsh. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - If you enjoyed this video, SHARE it with your rail-loving friends to help us raise our community, and of course, leave your opinion in the COMMENT section and hit the LIKE button. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ► Stay connected with us on social media: - Facebook: - Instagram: - Linkedin: #railway #engineering #construction