Beijing railway administration has halted travel agency ticket sales for the Qianghai-Tibet rail line in a bid to give the over-loaded tourist destination a breather, Shanghai Morning Post said today.

Since its first run on July 1, all of the Tibet en route trains have been full of visitors eager to see the region. Some travel agencies even had to queue customers at the railway stations over night for tickets.

"Only 12 bed seat tickets to Tibet are for sale at the Shijiazhuang Railway Station," said Liu Yi, vice manager from a travel agency in Hebei Province. "Our first Tibet group is scheduled to set off on July 25."

"We have decided to set up a queue at the Beijing station for Tibet bound train tickets," Liu said.

However, the poor facilities and tour guide services in Tibet are another main factor that is causing issues for both travel agencies and tourists, the newspaper said.

"The accommodation standards in Tibet have been lowered to 'a place for sleep' and 'something cooked to eat'," said Liu. His counterpart in Tibet, who provides local reception services, notified Liu yesterday of the situation in Tibet.

Transportation and hotel costs have surged several times because of the shortage, he added.

"The Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet's hottest attraction, has limited its daily ticket sale to no more than 2,300 people, far from the 7,000 tourists that visit every day," said the manager of the international travel service company from the region.

The Qinghai-Tibet Railway stretches 1,956 kilometers from Xining to Lhasa. About 960 kilometers of the line is located 4,000 meters above sea level. The highest point reaches 5,072 meters.

Three passenger trains travel to Tibet from Beijing, Chengdu (Chongqing) and Xining (Lanzhou) every day.

Before the railway opened, flights from Beijing, Chengdu and several other Chinese cities carried hundreds of people to Lhasa every day. However, the train has proved locals and tourists a more convenient, cost efficient and scenic route.

Experts estimate that the number of tourists visiting Tibet will grow by 15 to 20 percent annually now that the Qinghai-Tibet Railway is open. A total of 2.5 million tourists will go to Tibet by 2010 and 6 million by 2020, Xinhua news agency reported this month.
source:info.tibet.cn