Minister Speaks Highly of Railway Construction

　LHASA, March 15 (Xinhuanet) - Fu Zhihuan, the state railway minister, spoke highly of the first-phase construction of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Line.

　The minister made the remark during the ongoing National People's Congress (parliament) in Beijing. He said that the first phase could be described as a hundred percent successful.

　Though the engineers and constructors have encountered many difficulties in the first phase, the minister said, they have managed to overcome all the difficulties to fulfil the projected task.

　Fu cited as the difficulties low air pressure, lack of oxygen, perma-frost soil, fragile environment and geological hazards like earthquakes and gales of winds.

　The minister told other delegates to the congress that the central government has pinned great hopes on the completion of the 1,080-kilometer railway line connecting the remote autonomous region with other parts of the country.