A gantry crane carries a container at the freight yard of Lhasa West Railway Station in Lhasa, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, on June 18, 2026. (Xinhua/Tenzing Nima Qadhup)

The freight yard of Lhasa West Railway Station is the largest railway freight handling center in the Xizang section of the Qinghai-Xizang Railway which went operational in July 2006 and ended Xizang's history of no railway access.

The cargo throughput of the yard increased from 329,000 tonnes in 2006, when the railway first opened, to 6.429 million tonnes in 2025, with the range of cargo categories expanding from merely a dozen types to over 50 types today.

As of April 2026, the total cumulative in-out freight volume handled by this yard has exceeded 100 million tonnes.

A staff member works at the control room of the freight yard of Lhasa West Railway Station in Lhasa, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, on June 18, 2026. (Xinhua/Tenzing Nima Qadhup)

A car is unloaded at the freight yard of Lhasa West Railway Station in Lhasa, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, on June 18, 2026. (Xinhua/Tenzing Nima Qadhup)

A staff member operates a forklift to unload goods at the freight yard of Lhasa West Railway Station in Lhasa, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, on June 18, 2026. (Xinhua/Tenzing Nima Qadhup)