A marvel of engineering and a lifeline for communities. Since the Qinghai-Xizang railway opened in 2006, it has reshaped lives across the plateau. In this episode of Beyond the Tracks, our reporter Wu Bin travels to Amdo – the first county the railway enters in Xizang – to see how the tracks are paving the way to a better life.

WU BIN Amdo County, Xizang Autonomous Region "At 4,702 meters, Amdo railway station is one of the world's highest railway stations. It's not a big station with just four tracks, but for the local people it's a lifeline."

Amdo is small county with just around 40,000 people, and is known as the gateway to the northern part of the Xizang Autonomous Region, in southwest China.

Twenty years ago, before the Qinghai-Xizang Railway opened, it would take a month for locals to go to the capital Lhasa on horseback.

The railway, known as the world's highest and longest plateau rail-line, stretches from Xining in Qinghai Province to Lhasa in the Xizang Autonomous Region.

It forever changed people's lives in Amdo County, including 74-year-old Kelsang. He is one of the first passengers of what has been nicknamed the "sky road."

"These are all the tickets from the very first train ride. Over the past two decades, I have treasured and kept them as something very precious."

KELSANG Resident, Amdo County "Before 2006, I had only heard of trains, never seen one, let alone ridden one. I felt truly happy to be able to take the very first train."

When the railway was first designed, the station was about seven kilometers from Amdo.

So to include the region into the overall development of Xizang, designers made a turn in the railway and changed the station to just one kilometer from the county.

That made Amdo the first comprehensive passenger and freight station as the railway enters Xizang.

Amdo then became a vital link connecting the plateau to the rest of the world, and was reshaped entirely.

And no one knows these changes better than the son of Kelsang.

"Over there used to be empty land. Now there's a health center, a village committee. All built in recent years."

Thirty-eight-year-old Gonggar Lub is born and raised in Amdo. He now is the head of local media center, and has a sharp eye for change.

"We are now at a crossroad in the county center. All those shops, buildings were not here back then."

Fresh vegetables used to be a luxury on the plateau.

GONGGAR LUB Resident, Amdo County "Back then, living in the pastoral areas, we couldn't get fresh vegetables or fruit every day. Now it's very convenient. We have various kinds of vegetables and fruits in supermarkets."

The train has also helped bring the county upgraded medical facilities, a reliable supply of medicines and more medical staff.

In the past, a heavy cold might be fatal here.

GONGGAR LUB Resident, Amdo County "Now, every village has a doctor, every town has a health center. The county's medical facilities are very good. The hospital is also able to do some surgeries. All of this is available now."

Fifty-three-year-old Quan Jinbo now works at the Amdo railway station. Watching passengers come and go every day, Quan found that the packages people brought with them became smaller.

QUAN JINBO Passenger Clerk, Amdo Railway Station "When I was in Nagqu in 2010, people traveled with tents, yak butter, dried meat, and even bedding, piled up like a small mountain. Now they carry very little."

Before Quan came to Amdo, only one person worked in the station. Seven years ago, he came to Amdo railway station since it needed more staff due to the significantly-increasing passenger flow.

QUAN JINBO Passenger Clerk, Amdo Railway Station "The highest number I observed was approximately 400, or 460 passengers in one day."

Kelsang still keeps that first train ticket, a reminder of the moment he first stepped aboard.

Gonggar Lub walks the streets of Amdo almost every day, witnessing small but profound changes all around him.

And Quan Jinbo says he will work at the railway station for another seven years until he retires.

The story of Amdo, is just one of the many stories along the sky road. Since the railway opened in 2006, over one billion tonnes of goods have been transported into and out of Xizang via rail.

From 2006 to 2025, the annual freight volume increased by 23 times to over 8.31 million tonnes. It has changed not just one county, but the livelihood of the people living on the entire plateau. Wu Bin, CGTN, Amdo County, Xizang Autonomous Region.