The Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the world's highest plateau railway, saw increased passengers and cargo in 2013.
The railway, which spans 1,956 km from Xining to Lhasa, carried 11.73 million passengers and 57.77 million tonnes of cargo in 2013, up 8.8 percent and 12.8 percent respectively year on year.
The railway has proven effective in boosting business in Tibet since it began service in July 2006. The railway has also brought a surge of tourists, boosting Tibet's tourism, hospitality and manufacturing sectors. In 2005, a year before the rail link opened, the autonomous region received 1.8 million tourists from home and abroad, while it received 12.9 million tourists in 2013.
Meanwhile, the railway has attracted more and more pilgrims to Tibet.
Wang Tieshan has worked on the railway for more than five years as the conductor of train K9801 from Xining to Lhasa. "The train carries more than 400 pilgrims from Sichuan, Gansu, Qinghai and other provinces each time, many of whom are from the same family or the same village," said Wang.
The company has begun to extend the railway in Tibet with the construction of a 253-km line linking Lhasa to Shigatse. The line is expected to be completed in 2014.
