Saturday, July 1 2006 11:42 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Golmud (China): The first passenger train from China's Qinghai province to Tibet was launched Saturday morning from the railway station here, unveiling a landmark railway across the 'roof of the world'.

The train, coded 'Qing 1' and carrying about 600 passengers, rolled out at about 11.05 a.m. (local time) to Lhasa, and is dubbed 'an engineering marvel'.

Chinese president Hu Jintao cut the ribbon for the launching of the railway and delivered a keynote speech at a gala held at the railway station.

Hu said that the opening of the Qinghai-Tibet railway "is a magnificent accomplishment we have achieved in our socialist modernisation drive" and added that it was a long-cherish dream of generations of Chinese people.

"The project is not only a magnificent feat in China's history of railway construction, but is also a great miracle of the world's railroad history," he said. Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan presided over the launching ceremony, which was also attended by party chiefs of Tibet and Qinghai. Around 2,600 people from various circles, including workers who have made special contributions to the construction of the railway, were also present at the launch.

The Qinghai-Tibet railway is 1,956 km long, with 960 km of the track located 4,000 metres above sea level and the highest point at 5,072 metres. The railway is the world's highest and longest plateau railroad and also the first railway connecting the Tibet Autonomous Region with the rest of China.

On board the maiden train are role models of builders of the railway, representatives from the Chinese government, journalists from official media and local passengers.

Plates inscribed with the words 'Eight Honours and Eight Disgraces', standards set by President Hu Jintao to boost socialist morality, were hung in the cars of the train.