The world's highest and longest plateau railroad, China's Qinghai-Tibet railway, will have a supply of oxygen on trains to combat the effects of altitude sickness on passengers during its trial operation in July.

"Oxygen will be supplied by using a system like central air-conditioning on trains, which can make the oxygen content in carriages reach 80 percent of that in plain areas," said Ma Baocheng, deputy manager of the Qinghai-Tibet Railways Company.

Oxygen masks will also be installed under seats in carriages, which passengers can use in case they still feel sick, Ma said.

In addition, each train will have a doctor and a nurse for emergency treatment of passengers, according to Ma.

The 1,956-kilometer-long Qinghai-Tibet Railway links Xining, capital of China's northwestern province of Qinghai, to Lhasa, capital of southwestern China's Tibet Autonomous Region. The trial operation will be launched on July 1.

Some 960 kilometers of its tracks are located 4,000 meters above sea level and the highest point is 5,072 meters, at least 200 meters higher than the Peruvian railway in the Andes, which was formerly the world's most elevated track.

(Xinhua News Agency April 24, 2006)