With robust backing from national authorities and local governments, railway departments are advancing preliminary work on the main corridors of the "Eight Vertical and Eight Horizontal" high-speed rail network and several projects focused on filling gaps and strengthening hubs. The electrification of the Golmud to Lhasa section of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway is a key project among these, with efforts being accelerated to process necessary formalities and approve preliminary designs, aiming for an early construction start. This update was recently released by the China State Railway Group.

A source from the China State Railway Group's Construction Management Department revealed to reporters that the external power supporting project for the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Golmud-Lhasa section commenced on March 31, 2026. "This supporting project serves as a guarantee for the main electrification project, effectively a preliminary phase, and it is now fully underway across the entire route." The source further explained that the Golmud-Lhasa section traverses uninhabited areas with a weak power grid, where the maximum voltage is only 220 kV. Without first adapting the grid in this section, the main electrification work cannot proceed.

The Tibet Autonomous Region government has placed significant emphasis on this external power project. According to a January 2026 report in the Tibet Daily, the regional party committee and government have included the project in a provincial-level leadership guarantee mechanism. Lai Jiao, a member of the Standing Committee of the Tibet Autonomous Region Party Committee and head of its Organization Department, noted that the electrification of the Tibet section of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway is directly linked to the long-term reliability and efficient畅通 of the major passage into and out of Tibet. It plays an irreplaceable strategic role in integrating into the national unified market, promoting ethnic exchanges and integration, consolidating border security, and building a vital channel open to South Asia. He stressed the need to ensure the timely start of both the main project and the external power supporting project.

The same source from the China State Railway Group stated that the external power supporting project plans to construct four new substations, simultaneously laying 1,552 kilometers of 500 kV and 220 kV high-voltage transmission lines, and implementing a full suite of power operation and maintenance upgrade measures. The project is scheduled for completion and commissioning by the end of 2027. Once complete, it will fill the gap in the 500 kV backbone grid in the northern Tibetan Plateau. "This will not only pave the way for the main electrification project of the Golmud-Lhasa section but also open up a pathway for integrating and consuming plateau green electricity, laying a solid foundation for exporting Tibet's electricity."

Progress on the external power supporting project is currently smooth. Information from the State Grid Tibet Electric Power Co., Ltd. website shows that State Grid Tibet Materials Company has secured production and delivery milestones for core equipment, including 90,100 tons of towers and 203 intervals of combined electrical appliances, ensuring that material supply matches the construction schedule. All core equipment required for the project has been confirmed for production, with precise alignment between material supply and construction progress.

On June 11, the National Energy Administration's Power Reliability Management and Engineering Quality Supervision Center's Tibet Station completed its first quality supervision inspection of the supporting project. The Tibet Station stated that, considering the project's challenges such as high-altitude hypoxia, widespread permafrost, and short construction windows, the inspection focused on these unique plateau characteristics and problem-solving. Image and video documentation was archived for each critical process step, ensuring traceability of the construction process and accountability for quality issues, thereby enhancing the effectiveness of supervision.

Regarding the rationale for electrifying the Golmud-Lhasa section, the source from the China State Railway Group's Construction Management Department explained that the section has been in operation for 20 years. Passenger traffic into and out of Tibet has surged from 664,000 trips in 2006 to 2.69 million trips in 2025, while freight volume has grown substantially from 361,000 tons in 2006 to 8.313 million tons in 2025. Currently, all locomotives on the Golmud-Lhasa section are diesel-powered. Due to the high-altitude, low-oxygen environment, diesel locomotive power drops significantly when crossing the Tanggula Pass, limiting their traction capacity and thus overall transport volume. Additionally, the railway must balance passenger and freight services, with schedules often conflicting. "Under the current diesel locomotive traction, the transport capacity of the Golmud-Lhasa section is essentially saturated, unable to meet the rising transport demands from Tibet's expanding cultural tourism, mineral development, infrastructure material imports, and export of specialty agricultural and livestock products. The supply-demand contradiction is becoming increasingly acute," the source noted. After electrification, electric locomotives will not be affected by altitude or oxygen levels, with single-locomotive traction capacity potentially increasing by over 30% and overall line capacity improving correspondingly. Furthermore, Fuxing high-speed trains could operate on the Xining-Lhasa route, eliminating the need for locomotive changes at Golmud Station, reducing travel time, and enhancing passenger turnover efficiency.

From an operational cost perspective, electrification is also necessary. The source stated that diesel locomotive traction faces two major rigid cost pressures: high energy consumption and high maintenance costs. In contrast, electric locomotives draw power directly from the grid, resulting in minimal energy losses. Combined with Tibet's abundant hydropower and solar green energy resources, the energy cost per unit of turnover will be significantly lower than with diesel traction, offering clear economic advantages. From an equipment perspective, the main diesel locomotives currently used on the Golmud-Lhasa section are original US imports, now in service for 20 years. Parts supply and maintenance are driving up operating costs. "After electrification, with a full switch to domestically produced plateau electric locomotives and all components sourced domestically, annual locomotive maintenance costs will be drastically reduced, creating a self-sustaining cost cycle for autonomous traction equipment."

Finally, the full electrification of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway aligns with the national "dual carbon" goals and the imperative to protect the ecological barrier of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The source noted that the entire Sanjiangyuan and Hoh Xil nature reserves are located along the Golmud-Lhasa route. The plateau's permafrost and alpine meadows have ecological recovery cycles spanning decades, making the ecosystem extremely fragile. The continuous emissions and diesel leakage risks from diesel locomotives persistently disturb the ecology along the line, contradicting national requirements for Qinghai-Tibet Plateau ecological protection and carbon peak and neutrality goals. In contrast, electric locomotives produce zero exhaust and oil emissions during operation. Powered by Tibet's green grid, they offer significant carbon reduction potential. Moreover, the construction of the accompanying 500 kV and 220 kV high-voltage transmission network will fill the gap of a backbone high-voltage grid in the northern Tibetan Plateau, opening a channel for exporting Tibet's clean energy. The railway's consumption of local photovoltaic and hydropower resources creates a bidirectional cycle, combining ecological benefits with energy industry synergy.