Linking regional capital Lhasa to the eastern city of Xigaze, the second stretch of Tibet's much-lauded railway opened today. Xigaze is the second largest city in the Himalayan province running along India's northern borders.

"The railway will make transportation of our goods more convenient and reduce the transport costs a lot, compared with highways," said Xigaze business owner Jampa Daintar, one of many Tibetans who applaud the new line. 

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This new extension of the Qinghai-Tibet railway reduces the travel time between the two cities from the current four hours by highway to around two hours in a region where travel is notoriously slow. Spectacular vistas aside, because of the region's mountainous geography and fragile wildlife, the 157-mile line is a complex combination of open tracks, along with 29 tunnels and 116 bridges that made up 46 percent of its construction.

With a cost of 13.3 billion yuan (2.16 billion U.S. dollars), the rail link the most expensive in China's history. Estimates have the line as costing 50,000 yuan per meter.

Tickets went on sale Friday. The first passenger train is scheduled to depart the Lhasa Railway Station for Xigaze at 9 a.m. Saturday. Proponents of the high-elevation railway see it as not only only benefiting Tibet's two largest cities, but also opens the possibilities of links with Nepal and the Indian state of Sikkim, as well as future connections with population centers on the Himalayan Plateau.

The line also passes through some of the popular draws of Tibet, including the 60-km-long Yarlung Zangbo River Grand Canyon region, site of multiple hot or thermal springs ranging from 40 to 90 degrees Celsius. The Yarlung Zangbo, the Tibetan length of what becomes the Brahmaputra River in India, is also part of another Beijing-led project to divert water from the Himalayas to the northern lowland regions of China, and to provide electricity.

TagsQinghai-Tibet railway, Tibet