Marc, read all about it at http://www.seat61.com/China.htm#Lhasa%20&%20Tibet

Extract:
Lhasa & Tibet: New daily train from Beijing & Xian to Lhasa..!
Regular passenger trains to Lhasa: The railway to Lhasa in Tibet has been completed, and the first regular passenger trains started running on 1 July 2006. There are now 3 trains a day to Lhasa, including a daily express from Beijing and Xian. These are modern air-conditioned Chinese Railways trains, with soft & hard class sleepers, soft & hard class seats & a restaurant car. Photos of the new Beijing-Lhasa train interior. Train times & fares for the principal trains are shown below. A train Guangzhou (near Hong Kong) to Lhasa is due to start on 1 October 2006, and a train from Shanghai may be introduced later. Right: The destination plate on the side of the Chengdu-Lhasa train. Photo courtesy of Keith Crane.

Deluxe tourist trains are due to start running some time in 2007, but dates, times and fares have yet to be announced. They will be marketed as Tangula Express (Google this), running from Beijing, Xian and Shanghai to Lhasa with luxury sleeping-cars with double beds, private shower & toilet, restaurant cars and lounge-observation cars. The Tangula Express trains are a joint venture between Chinese Railways and a western company called RailPartners.

The highest railway in the world: The new Qinghai-Tibet Railway is the highest in the world, climbing from 2,829m above sea level at Golmud (Geermu) to 3,641m at Lhasa, much of it built on permafrost. Its highest point is in the Tanggula Pass, at 16,640 feet (just over 5,000m) above sea level. Because of the lack of oxygen at that altitude, all passenger coaches have extra oxygen pumped into them, and oxygen is available to passengers through tubes if they have problems. See the photos below. Before the railway was built, travellers had to take a train to Golmud then a gruelling 48 hour bus journey to Lhasa.

Permit for Tibet required: In addition to a Chinese visa, foreigners still require a special permit to enter Tibet, although there is talk of discontinuing this requirement in the near future, so please check. The only way to get a permit is through a Chinese travel agency, for example ChinaHighlights.com who can arrange both trains and tailor-made tours.


Summary of times & fares for trains from Chengdu & Xining to Lhasa

One-way fares per person Hard sleeper Soft sleeper
Beijing to Lhasa, bought at reservations office in Beijing: RMB 813 ($102) RMB 1,262 ($158)
Beijing to Lhasa, booked in advance at www.chinatripadvisor.com*: $119 $183

* Please check if www.chinatripadvisor.com are now offering these tickets, as they are difficult to get at the moment.

Traveller Keith Crane reports: "We had great trouble finding somebody who could book me a ticket independently (we were in Guangdong province - and tried calling Beijing) as all the agents wanted to offer a fully inclusive tour for between 5,000-7,000 Yuan. Finally we found an agent in Chengdu, www.dreams-travel.com, who could book the ticket and our Tibet pass very efficiently. They also run the very good Wen Jun Mansion Hotel, a recommendable, cheap place to stay. Chengdu is also the home of China's Panda research and breeding base so you can see the cuddly black and white creatures close while you wait for your train! Chinatripadvisor was pretty slow off the mark, not knowing much more than anyone else before bookings opened. Anyway our combined ticket (soft sleeper and Tibet pass) came to about 1,700 Yuan each in the end and off we went. Despite reading stories of altitude sickness we suffered none - and if the train was pressurised, we found the toilet windows open throughout the journey. The soft class accommodation is comfortable - there are western-style toilets - but the catering facilities are limited - a 44 seat dining car for a 15 carriage train! And not enough refrigeration for cold beer.!"