The train to Lhasa, [tag]Tibet[/tag], that just a couple of weeks ago started rolling, is faced with some new challenges. It is still climbing to 5,072 metres (16,640ft) above sea level but its safety is apparently threatened.
These are the culprits (in no particular order):
- Cracks
- Shifting Sands
- Yaks
Less than a month after the opening of the line across the [tag]Himalayas[/tag] to Tibet, it has become unstable in places because the foundations are sinking into the permafrost, railway ministry spokesman Wang Yongping, told the [tag]Beijing[/tag] News today.
planners have failed to cope with a far less timid and more numerous beast – the yak, thousands of which graze along the tracks and wander across them.
“These form dangers to passengers on the train,” Mr Wang said.
I am a bit saddened and hope there will be no retaliation against the yaks. The endangered Tibetan antelope already has its own tunnels, let’s give the yaks their own.
Source: The Guardian
Seems like every country in the world has problems with things on the track! Here in Spain they’ve had a spate of broken down cars in the last few years and in the UK it always used to be leaves on the track!
Comment by Matthew — July 31, 2006 @ 10:44 am