Asia

China to run “most luxurious train in the world” into occupied Tibet

China is launching a new rail service from Beijing to the Tibetan capital Lhasa, which Chinese authorities claim will be the “most luxurious in the world”.

The service will start in September 2008, running on the 1,142 kilometre Qinghait-Tibet Railway, which opened in July 2006.

China has occupied the Himalayan country since 1950, and critics of the railway, like the Free Tibet campaign group, say that the new service and route is politically motivated, and will let China further tighten its grip on the Himalayan country, further watering-down Tibet’s culture and negatively impacting its environment.

Chinese officials have said that the train will carry just 96 passengers and be decorated like a five star hotel. The journey will take five days and is scheduled to run every eight days.