New Railway Bridge in Tibet Brings China's Strategic Transport Closer to India

China has completed construction of last of 120 bridges planned in its nearly 430km railway project linking Lhasa and Nyingchi in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) on Saturday.

The 525.1m railway bridge was built on the Yarlung Tsangpo river which flows into India as Siang and then Brahmaputra river, some 30km away from the border with Arunachal Pradesh state, which China claims is part of south Tibet. Located in TAR’s Gyatsa county, at an altitude of 3350m, it will reportedly be a “dual use” civil and military bridge.

"It will take a train just 12 seconds to pass over the bridge," Zhang Jianmin, the official in charge of the project, was quoted as saying by China Daily on Monday.

The bridge is said to be the world's highest concrete-filled steel tube arch railway bridge. Its main span is 430m.

The Lhasa-Nyingchi segment is part of China’s 1,629km Sichuan-Tibet railway and is expected to open next year. Tibet’s first electric railway will be capable of attaining speeds of upto 160kmph, according to reports.