Lhasa-Nyingchi rail line:
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Train link would connect the capital city of the Tibet Autonomous Region to the border city of Nyingchi with a travel time of three and a half hours.
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Over 90% of the track is 3000m above sea-level and the line is the first electrified high-speed rail (HSR) line, as China refers to bullet trains, in Tibet. China has the world’s longest HSR network.
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The Lhasa-Nyingchi rail is one section of the Sichuan-Tibet railway line.
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The Sichuan-Tibet Railway line will be the second railway line into Tibet after the Qinghai-Tibet Railway.
Why this latest development is significant for India?
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Enhanced mobility for PLA: The railway route will enable China to quickly mobilize personnel of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and other defense resources in the event of a border escalation with India, like the border standoff in eastern Ladakh in May 2020.
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Developing border villages: China has sought to empower ‘border villages‘ in the areas bordering India’s Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim states, especially after the Doklam standoff in 2017.