The Chinese government on Saturday said it will build a second railway line connecting parts of the country to Tibet, as part of its five-year development plan. The line will link the capital of China’s Tibet Autonomous Region, Lhasa, to Chengdu, the capital of southwest China’s Sichuan Province. The new railway will be 1,629 km long and will allow passengers to travel between Lhasa and Chengu in just 15 hours.

This will be in addition to the existing Qinghai-Tibet Railway that links inland areas of China to the Himalayan region. The 1,956 km railway line, opened in 2006, is the world’s highest and longest plateau railroad at 16,400 feet above sea level, reported PTI. It is built deep within Tibet and close to the Indian border.

China plans to accelerate the construction of railways in border areas and build cross-border corridors. It has also built five airports in the Himalayan region. The expansion of road, air and rail services in Tibet will make it easier for China to rapidly move its troops towards the border with India, the report said. After the Qinghai-Tibet railway was built, India began developing infrastructure in parts of Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims is a part of Southern Tibet.