The project, approved by the Ministry of Railways in November. will be operated by a joint venture between Rail Partners, a subsidiary of TZG Partners, and Qinghai-Tibet Railway Company. It attracted an investment of 52.9 million U.S. dollars from Hong Kong's Wing On Travel (Holdings) Limited.

    "All sewage and garbage on the trains will be collected and properly disposed of, thus they will not damage the environment of the snow-covered plateau, "said Ben Tsen, managing director of TZG Partners.

    Tsen said the trains would adopt the most advanced environmental protection technologies to reduce the effects on environment as much as possible.

    The Qinghai-Tibet railway from Xi'ning, Qinghai provincial capital, to Lhasa, capital of Tibet, started operation in July 2006, ending Tibet's history without railway.

    Tsen said the company also planned to launch luxury trains from Beijing to Dali and Lijiang in scenic Yunnan Province.