A NEW weekly train will run along the Qinghai-Tibet railway to collect garbage amid concerns that the trial operation of the railway July 1 will bring with serious environmental problems.

Other measures have also been set in place to protect the environment of the Hoh Xil, a nature reserve for endangered Tibetan antelopes.

"Waste water discharge is banned along the railway," said Liu Xinduo, a senior engineer with the environment control and labor sanitation institute of the Academy of Railway Sciences.

Currently, disposal facilities have been built at 15 sites along the railway to treat waste water, Liu said.

The train's carriages are equipped with a system for garbage collection, which can compact refuse, said Ma Baocheng, deputy general manager of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Co. "All the garbage collected in train carts will be carried to Golmud or Lhasa for disposal," he said.

"We have also installed vacuum equipment to gather excrement in toilets and special facilities for gathering all kinds of waste on the train," Ma said.

Ma said his company has designated a special protection belt along the railway to reduce the contamination of the environment to a minimum.

Editor: Wing