Sixty-four young Tibetans walked into the Lanzhou Railway Institute, in China's Gansu Province, on Sunday as freshmen students.

In three or four years, they will be the first railway engineers and administrators of their own ethnic nationality, working on the Qinghai-Tibet Railway.

In all, 552 students, including 173 Tibetans, have enrolled with railway institutes and schools this year to be trained as professionals for the railway that is still under construction.

"They'll work on the construction and administration of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway after graduation, the first generation of ethnic Tibetan railway builders and administrators," said Lu Chunfang, a senior official responsible for building the Qinghai-Tibet Railway.

Construction of the 1,110-kilometer railway, which links up Lhasa and the Golmud city in Qinghai Province, is expected to be completed in 2007.

With four-fifths of the railway at an altitude of more than 4,000 meters, it will be the longest and highest plateau railway in the world. Chinese government officials and academics expect it to significantly promote economic and social links between this land-locked region and the outside world.

From: China Tibet Information Center