With 65 percent of its length located within Taklimakan — the world's second-largest shifting-sand desert in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region — sand control became the greatest challenge to construction and maintenance of the Hotan-Ruoqiang railway, workers said.

"We had to come up with innovative solutions to overcome those difficulties and such experiences have become great assets for us to build railways in even harsher natural environments," said Pu Falin, manager of the Hotan-Ruoqiang Railway Company, which is responsible for construction of the railway.

Taklimakan is a shifting desert. It is estimated that low sand dunes can move up to 20 meters each year. Frequent sandstorms have also posed a serious threat to the railway since its construction started in December 2018.

"We decided to build green belts simultaneously with railway construction, which has proved successful in preventing sands reaching the railway since it was put into operation more than a year ago," Pu said, adding that train services have so far been running smoothly.

A total of 50 million square meters of straw grids have been laid and 13 million trees, including red willow and calligonum desert scrub, have been planted along the 825-kilometer line, according to China Railway.

Li Delun, a member of the team maintaining the green belts who is based at Qiemo station in Bayingolin Mongol autonomous prefecture, said the trees have survived and are growing well. "If we had planted them after the railway was built, they wouldn't have been strong enough to protect the railway track," he said.