The world's highest and longest plateau railroad, China's Qinghai-Tibet railway, will have a supply of oxygen supplies on trains to combat the effects of altitude sickness on passengers. This service will be given trails in July.

"Oxygen will be supplied through an air-conditioning type system on the trains which can make the oxygen content in carriages go up by 80 percent," said Ma Baocheng, deputy manager of the Qinghai-Tibet Railways Company.

Oxygen masks will be installed under seats in carriages which passengers can use if they feel unwell, 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. Trials?of the service will begin on July 1.

Some 960 kilometers of track are located 4,000 meters above sea level and the highest point is 5,072 meters which is 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)