Lhasa Railway Station - Route, Schedule, Transportation, Constructure, Introduction

3. By Public Bus: Bus No.1, No.13, No.14, etc. can take you to downtown area, where near Potala Place or your hotel. The bus fare is only 1 CNY per person, making it a very affordable option. However, there is often little to no space for large luggage, and the journey to downtown can take around 1.5 hours due to frequent stops and traffic.

Get on the bus at Lhasa Liuwu Bus Station (a large bus terminal) on your right hand side after walking out of station exit, and get off at marked stops on the way. You can check the destination information from bus driver and local people.

If you will leave downtown Lhasa and take trains from the railway station, the buses above are helpful in the same way.

Note: The above transportation information is for reference only. Public bus schedule and route may change.

1. Tibet Travel Permit Required: All non-Chinese passport holders must obtain a Tibet Travel Permit (also called Tibet Entry Permit) before entering Tibet, and additional permits may be required for certain areas due to its proximity to international borders. At Tibet Discovery, we handle all permit applications for our clients, so you don’t need to worry about the paperwork.

2. Altitude Considerations: Lhasa Railway Station is located at a high altitude of approximately 3,650 meters, where the air is thinner and oxygen levels are lower. New arrivals should move slowly, avoid strenuous activity, and ensure adequate rest upon arrival.

3. Security Check: Security checks at Lhasa Railway Station may take longer than at many other stations in China. Please be reminded that items like knives, flammable materials, and oxygen canisters are not permitted. To ensure a smooth journey, it is advised to arrive 1 hour before your train's departure.

Lhasa Railway Station is designed and built in mixed style combining traditional Tibetan Architectural elements with modern buildings style. Viewed from the outside, its steel-cored wooden frame extends from right above the entrance to station tents area, adopted the typical Tibetan stack-up construction style. Each layer ranging at the entrance makes up the door head, which coincides with the traditional form of Tibetan door lintel and window transom.

Supported by Tibet’s unique beam-columns, the colonnade reflects sacred and solemn ambience. The central two- story corridor framed by wooden shelves and columns faces stations and mountains in the south directly, providing a good wide vision. As for construction color, the most classic Tibet Red (Saffron Color) and white are widely used.

Looking from the inside, the central hall on the ground floor mainly uses the red tone, where floors are laid in white and red deluxe nonskid stones. Eight big pillars stand in the hall, they are built in Tibetan architecture style, and the interior part is steel structure, breaded with special processed Red Pine outside. Those pillars are antiseptic, ultraviolet-proof and anti-deformation, while the most important feature is fireproof.

All the window glasses in the hall are used advanced toughened glass in good sound insulation and airtight function. Some air vents are installed below the windows for indoor fresh air exchange. In order to protect the surroundings, the inward station uses the local rich and pollution free solar energy for heating.

Unique Tibetan techniques used like, diversification of walls, massive bricklaying, timber frames and serial horizontal roof inherit the local Tibet coherence and unity, also evolves to modernization.

The Ticket Office is in the west of the main floor, set up with over 10 ticket service windows, where train tickets, plane tickets and coach tickets are sold within.

The Soft Sleeper Waiting Room is in the southeast side, covering an area of 800 sq meters in total.

The VIP Waiting Room is located in the southeast as well, decorated with luxury carpets and huge tapestries in Potala Palace pattern on the wall.

A large LED Screen is settled on the wall of the west side of the Ticket Office, it mainly displays train information, such as train schedule, ticket price and available tickets left, etc. An information service desk sits in the middle of the hall where passengers can consult basic direction guidance here. Escalators are equipped with on both sides of the hall in the ground floor.

The Shopping Mall is in the northeast side of the 2nd floor where have some fast-food restaurants, cafe houses and shops for snacks.

The Ordinary Waiting Room is in the south, including specialized waiting rooms for Maternal and Child, Soldier, small soft sleeper and medical treatment.

The Ticket Entrance is in the southwest, nearby an electronic screen showing train schedule information. Automatic escalators are erected along both sides down the entrance.

Track

After checking the tickets, there is a LED screen showing timely train schedule, and there are 7 station platforms inside the station, sheltered by large-scale rain-proof sheds without column, 10 station tracks: 8 arrival and departure tracks and 2 freight tracks.

The Front Square

The railway bus terminal station is on the right hand of the exit where provides many city buses to downtown Lhasa. Taxi stands where are just outside the Exit for passengers’ convenience. Also accommodation and meal places can be found in nearby buildings.

For most travelers, the key areas to navigate at Lhasa Railway Station are 1F (Arrival & Platforms) and 2F (Departure & Waiting Hall).

Arrival Process: 1F Platform → Arrival Passage → Exit → Front Square / Underground Parking

Departure Process: 2F Main Entrance → Security Check → Waiting Hall → Ticket Gate → (Downstairs) Level 1 Platform → Board Train