Investment in the transportation construction in Tibet broke through 10 billion RMB in 2012

According to statistics provided by the Communication and Transportation Department of Tibet Autonomous Region, the total investment in the transportation construction in Tibet broke through 10 billion RMB in 2012. The 10.1 billion RMB investment sets a new record to the in the Tibet transportation construction history and the total investment has increased 18.8 percent compared to that of 2011. The experts said that the improvement of the transportation network in Tibet will provide great convenience for both local Tibetans and visitors.

It is reported that the Communication and Transportation Department of Tibet established 25 key projects in 2012, including the continued construction of the section between the Zone Boundary and to Rutog of State Highway G219 and the section between Tongmai and 105 Highway Maintenance Squad of State Highway G108, as well as the renovation of the 102 Landslide Area.

Tibet has invested 4.918 billion RMB into the construction of the roads in the rural areas in 2012 and that investment increased 61 percent compared to that of 2011. According to statistics, 411 administrative villages and 387 monasteries are served with gravel road, and 15 counties and towns in Tibet are served with asphalt road.

In addition, the transportation capacity of Tibet has been greatly improved in 2012. The highway passenger capacity reached 37 million and that increased 2.19 percent compared to the last year while the volume of passenger transportation reached 2.32 billion passenger kilometer in 2012 and that increased 3.12 percent compared to the last year. The volume of freight traffic on the highways in Tibet reached 10 million tons and that increased 6.44 percent compared to 2011. The tonnage mileage realized 2.79 billion ton kilometer and that increased 2.86 percent compared to the last year.

To relieve the transportation burden in Tibet and realize the great-leap-forward development of Tibet economy, Tibet is planning to accelerate the transportation construction in the coming few years. A total investment of 46.174 billion RMB will be put into the construction of Tibet transportation between 2011 and 2015. The total investment in this five-year period is 1.78 times of the total investment of the last five-year period.

In 2013, Tibet is planning to invest 12 billion RMB into the transportation projects under planning. Another investment of 10 billion RMB will also be invested in the hypernormal transportation projects. About 5000 kilometers road will be constructed in Tibet. The project of the first-class highway between Lhasa and Nyingchi will also be launched in 2013. Besides, The Communication and Transportation Department of Tibet is also planning to start the construction of the highways to the civil airports, such as Bangda Airport in Qamdo Prefecture, Milin Airport in Nyingchi Prefecture, Gunsa Airport in Ngari Prefecture and Peace Airport in Shigatse Prefecture.

Great importance will also be attached to the upgrade of the arteries between Lhasa and Tsedang, Shigatse, Nagqu. More remote villages will be served with highway after the transportation construction in 2013. Then, tourists planning a Tibet tour to the remote areas in Tibet will have fewer problems in the transportation.