The Qingzang railway, Qinghai–Xizang railway, or Qinghai–Tibet railway ( ), is a high-altitude railway that connects Xining, Qinghai Province, to Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, in China.
The total length of Qingzang railway is 1956 km. Construction of the section between Xining and Golmud 815 km rail was completed by 1984. The section of the 1142 km railway between Golmud and Lhasa was inaugurated on 1 July 2006 by president Hu Jintao: the first two passenger trains were "Qing 1" (Q1) from Golmud to Lhasa, and "Zang 2" (J2) from Lhasa. This railway is the first to connect China proper with the Tibet Autonomous Region, which due to its altitude and terrain is the last province-level entity in the People's Republic of China to have a conventional railway. Testing of the line and equipment started on May 1 2006. Trains run from Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Xining and Lanzhou.
The line includes the Tanggula Pass, at 5,072 m above sea level the world's highest rail track. The 1,338 m Fenghuoshan tunnel is the highest rail tunnel in the world, at 4,905 m above sea level. The 3,345-m Yangbajing tunnel is the longest tunnel on the line. It is 4,264 m above sea level, 80 kilometres north-west of Lhasa.
More than 960 km, or over 80% of the Golmud-Lhasa section, is at an altitude of more than 4,000 m. There are 675 bridges, totalling 159.88 km, and over half the length of the railway is laid on permafrost.
