On October 15, at 8 PM, the Qinghai section of the Ge’ku Railway welcomed its last newly opened station, the Hulun River Station, marking the successful completion of the main engineering work for the railway’s capacity expansion and renovation. This development, announced by the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Group Co., Ltd., signifies a significant enhancement in transportation efficiency.
The Ge’ku Railway, often referred to as the “New Silk Road in the Desert,” stretches 1,213 kilometers from Golmud City in Qinghai Province to Korla City in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. It serves as the third major rail artery into and out of Xinjiang, following the Lanzhou-Xinjiang and Linhe-Ha’erbin railways, and plays a crucial role in transporting materials between the southern regions of Xinjiang and western areas of Qinghai.
As an integral part of China’s northwest railway network, the Ge’ku Railway is essential for the economic and social development of western China, as well as for ensuring energy supply across the region.
According to reports, the expansion and renovation project for the Ge’ku Railway’s Qinghai section involved the addition of 20 reserved passing stations and the upgrade of five existing stations, along with corresponding facilities. With the completion of these enhancements, the number of train pairs operating on this segment will increase from 13 to 19, significantly boosting its annual transport capacity from 16 million tons to 33 million tons, thereby alleviating the current stress on outbound transport channels.
