The extension to Shigatse from Lhasa will be completed by 2015. Shigatse is a monastery town that is the home of the Panchen Lama, the second-most prominent figure in Tibetan Buddhism. The new 253 km (157-mile) line to Shigatse will be equipped to carry 8.3 million tonnes of freight per calendar year.

There will be 13 railway stations designed between Lhasa & Shigatse on the rail. The rail extension will start from the capital city of Lhasa and trail South along the Lhasa river to Doilungdeqen, and Quxu. The route will then follow the Brahmaputra river and pass the canyon to reach Nyemo, Rinbung, and finally Shigatse. The average distance between each station is approximately 22.5km.

Unfortunately lots of Shigatse's historic structures had been left in ruins after the cultural revolution.