[Photo by Sun Wentan/Asianewsphoto]

Five more stations are to be added to the Qinghai-Tibet railway, said local authorities on Wednesday.

Six other stations are to be renovated, said Wang Qing'an of the project command center.

Environmental protection will be a top priority, with water sources protected and vegetation protected or quickly restored.

The 1,956-km Qinghai-Tibet Railway is the world's highest and longest plateau railroad and the first connecting Tibet autonomous region with other parts of China.

During the past decade, the railway has carried 115 million passengers and 448 million tonnes of freight.