New railway in Xinjiang spares passages for wildlife migration

A new railway line connecting Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Qinghai Province in northwest China has left 140 passageways for the migration of wildlife, the railway designers said.

The passages are reserved at the Xinjiang section of the Golmud-Korla railway as it traverses through Lop Nur, a national nature reserve for wild camels.

A total of 13 tunnels and 127 bridges have been built for the migration of large, medium-sized and small animals in the reserve, home to more than 500 wild camels, said Wang Xinshuan, the project manager from a local railway design institute affiliated with the China Railway First Survey and Design Institute Group Co., Ltd., who is responsible for the Xinjiang section.

The line has also avoided a major wildlife water source at the cost of extra investment to ensure that the railway's construction and operation do not affect the drinking water source of wild animals.

Spanning 1,206 km, the Golmud-Korla line, which started construction in 2015, is a major railway passage connecting Xinjiang and other parts of China.

The Qinghai section was operational in June this year, and the Xinjiang section is expected to begin operation on Dec. 9. Enditem