China plans luxury train to Tibet

The line climbs more than 5,000 meters

A Chinese firm has unveiled plans for a luxury rail service between China's main cities and Tibet's capital, Lhasa.

Backed by private Western investment, the service aims to launch in 2007, attracting both newly wealthy Chinese and overseas tourists.

It has been made possible by the completion in October of the first railway line to Tibet.

The link is controversial as many consider Chinese rule over Tibet to be illegal, something Beijing rejects.

Chinese investments

While Tibet's government in exile continues to campaign for independence, the Chinese government says Tibet - which its army first invaded in 1950 - is rightly a constituent part of China.

The company behind the train service, Qinghai-Tibet Railway, is now seeking formal approval for the scheme from the Chinese government.

To help secure the funds for the project, it has gained backing from Shanghai-based private equity fund TZG Partners, which has taken a joint stake in the venture.

TZG Partners is backed by foreign Western investors and focused on starting new businesses in China's leisure, travel and real estate industries.

Oxygen supplies

Putting the political dispute over Tibet to one side, users of the luxury train service to Tibet will also have to cope with altitude sickness.

The pan-Himalayan line between Xining in western China's Qinghai province and Lhasa climbs 5,072m (16,640ft) above sea level before running across Tibet's snow-covered plateau - dubbed the roof of the world.

As the air is so thin in places, in addition to king-sized beds and butler service, the train's passengers will be offered oxygen canisters to help them breathe.

China says the line, which is due to open in July, will promote the development of impoverished Tibet.