📋 Tender Overview
The picture shows a train leaving the Guanxiang Tunnel. Photo by Yang Jianguang
On April 24, the fourth day after the Grain Rain solar term, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has not completely removed its winter clothes. From Xining to Golmud, large areas of residual snow can be seen lying among the yellow grass along the way.
At 19:45, it was not yet dark. At the exit of Guanjiao Tunnel, the longest tunnel of the plateau railway, Ma Zhengfeng, the protective staff member of the Guanjiao Tunnel Working Area of the Delingha Engineering Section, held a walkie-talkie and waited for the next train to pass. At this time, the temperature reached minus 4 degrees Celsius, and the cold wind penetrated into the collar, making people unconsciously shrink their necks, but 52-year-old Ma Zhengfeng didnt care at all.
The master always takes me with me when he works, and teaches me all his experiences. Li Yuande, 26, is Ma Zhengfengs apprentice. Although his face is tanned, his eyes are filled with the unique vitality of young people. Now, the Guanjiao Tunnel is spacious and bright, with more than 2,000 lighting equipment dispelling the darkness. We can also use advanced equipment such as laser rangefinders to carefully maintain it. With the guidance of the master and the assistance of the advanced equipment, I will definitely be able to guard the Guanjiao Tunnel!
As he spoke, a low roar came from the depths of the mountain, and an EMU train rushed out of the Guanjiao Tunnel. After more than ten seconds, the outline of the rear of the car disappeared into the twilight.
Looking at the train going away, Ma Zhengfeng, who had worked in the Laoguanjiao Tunnel Working Area, was filled with emotion. He recalled: The operating environment in Laoguanjiao Tunnel is harsh, and we keep working at night all year round. When the internal combustion engine passes, the rolling smoke forces us to lie on the ground to hide. Moreover, the Guanjiao Tunnel is small and the radius curve is many, and the tools are simple, making the tunnel maintenance extremely difficult.
In Tibetan, Guanjiao means the ladder to climb the sky. The average altitude here is more than 3,600 meters, and it is a high and cold and lacks oxygen. It is the throat road of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway and was once a famous devil section in the history of the worlds railways. When the train passes here, it can only travel at a speed of 15 kilometers per hour. Today, the Laoguan Corner Tunnel and the bulb-shaped expansion line that helps the train overcome the terrain height difference are still visible, and the nearly vertical cliffs on both sides are daunting. In 2014, the Xinguanjiao Tunnel was fully connected, and the time for trains to cross Guanjiao Mountain was shortened from 2 hours to a fastest of more than ten minutes. The former natural barrier has completely turned into a thoroughfare.
At 20:45, the night was as bright as ink. At Tianjun Station, 5 kilometers away from Guanjiao Tunnel, the Z265 train from Guangzhou to Lhasa roared past. Inside the carriage, passengers looked at the fields outside the window curiously.
In carriage No. 10, the train conductor Sangji led the crew to carefully check the doors and windows and whispered to ask the passengers about their physical condition. Sangji said that as Qinghai and Tibet gradually entered the peak tourist season, this train was often full when it started in Guangzhou. We do our best to provide services to make passengers plateau trips comfortable and safe.
20 minutes later, the train passed through Guanjiao Tunnel smoothly. At this time, Ma Zhengfeng and Li Yuande, who had finished their work, returned to the work area next to Tianjun Station, sat with their colleagues, discussed business enthusiastically, and made sufficient preparations for the next days work.
For more than forty years, generations of railway workers have taken root at the foot of Guanjiao Mountain, together with the new and old Guanjiao Tunnel, witnessing the vicissitudes of the railway and writing a moving chapter of perseverance and inheritance on the snowy sky road.
