$80 Billion China-Nepal railway: The world’s highest railway

China’s infrastructure prowess has once again amazed the world with the ambitious construction of the China-Nepal Railway in the Himalayas. Chinese engineers, known for their remarkable infrastructure projects like the Hong Kong Zhuhai Macao Bridge and Sichuan Tibet Railway, are now determined to overcome immense challenges and build this groundbreaking railway. Many foreign media outlets initially believed that the China-Nepal Railway project would be extremely difficult and might take China up to 50 years to complete. However, since the project’s conception in 2014, China and Nepal have confirmed their cooperation on the railway. The planned route extends from Shigatse in Tibet, through Gyirong County, and reaches Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. With a length of 443.8 kilometers in China and 90 kilometers outside China, the railway’s total investment is estimated at 8 billion yuan. If successfully completed, the China-Nepal Railway will become the world’s first railway to traverse the Himalayas and the highest railway globally. However, the project faces significant technical requirements and substantial investment. Compared to China’s previous impressive railway projects like the Qinghai-Tibet Railway and the ongoing Sichuan-Tibet Railway, the China-Nepal Railway poses even greater technical challenges. The railway’s construction area experiences intense neotectonic movements, earthquakes, hydrothermal variations, and glacial activities. Collapses, landslides, flash floods, and debris flows are prevalent in the region. Moreover, the average altitude of China’s Tibet region exceeds 4,000 meters, but it drops to 2,800 meters from Shigatse to the border town of Gyirong. Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital, lies at a mere 1,400 meters. Thus, the China-Nepal Railway will encounter an altitude difference of nearly 3,000 meters. The complex terrain and steep drops necessitate an extensive network of bridges and tunnels, which will constitute approximately 98% of the railway. Some experts consider the China-Nepal Railway the pinnacle of railway engineering, dubbing it the most challenging railway project worldwide. Additionally, the project requires substantial investment, with initial planning costs estimated at 30 billion yuan. Some Chinese experts predict that the cost per kilometer of the China-Nepal Railway will exceed 100 million yuan, comparable to China’s domestic high-speed rail costs. In addition to the technical and financial challenges, the project has faced numerous obstacles from India and the United States. Despite these hurdles, Chinese engineers remain determined to overcome all odds and transform the landscape by building the China-Nepal Railway, a testament to their remarkable infrastructure capabilities.