The First Survey and Design Institute of China Railway (FSDI), based in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, has started the design work for the extension line to Xigaze, a major Tibetan city some 280 km to the southwest of Lhasa, sources with the FSDI said.

    Construction is expected to begin this year on the 253-km new line with a design speed of at least 120 km per hour, the source said.

    Upon completion, the first feeder line for the Qinghai-Tibet Railway will be able to carry seven million tons of cargo a year, and eventually ten million, he said.

    The new line is expected to go into operation into 2010.

    FSDI started a feasibility study for the Lhasa-Xigaze line in February 2002, which was approved by the Ministry of Railways in May last year. The institute began an initial survey in October last year and then a location survey on Dec. 5.

    Located in the southwest of Tibet Autonomous Region and bordering Nepal, Bhutan and India, Xigaze is the hometown of the 11th Panchen Lama -- Gyaincain Norbu, the 18-year-old leader of Tibetan Buddhism.

    Tibet ended its history without a railway in July 2006 with the operation of the 1,956-km Qinghai-Tibet Railway. The railway has prompted a huge surge in the number of tourists to Tibet, bringing the region billions of yuan in tourism revenue.