Ever since the operation of the world's highest and longest plateau railroad a decade ago, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway in southwestern China has brought a sea change to the lives of people living in Tibet.

CRI's Li Jianhua reports from Lhasa.

Known as "the Roof of the World,"the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau used to be "inaccessible to the outside world."

However, that was before the opening of the Railway.

Now, an increasing number of people, especially holiday makers, can explore this holy land.

Statistics released by the Tibetan government show that the autonomous region received more than 20-million visitors in 2015, 11 times more than before the railway started service.

Chen Youti, who works in the Education Bureau of Bange County, says the Qinghai-Tibet Railway has greatly shortened his travel time from inland China to Tibet and lowered the costs of his travels.

"You can't imagine how troublesome it was for me to come in and out of Tibet. It used to take me four days on the way from my hometown in Yunnan. After the opening of the Qinghai-Tibet railway, I only have to make one transfer at Chengdu, which has shortened the travel time from nearly 90 hours to 60. "

The biggest beneficiaries of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway's opening have been local Tibetans.

60-year-old Tashi Tsering, travellng by train from Shigatse to Lhasa to fetch his paycheck, says the convenience the railway brings to his life is incredible.

"The Qinghai-Tibet Railway has brought us much convenience. Tibetans have benefited a lot from it, which was really out of my expectation. The train is safe, fast and cheap. I've traveled more than ten times from Shigatse to Lhasa since the rail line opened."

In addition, living expenses for people Tibet have also been lowered. Nagqu Logistics Centre head Jing Zhanjie attributes all this to the opening of the Qinghai-Tibet railway, which he says has lowered the costs of transporting goods into Tibet.

"The completion and opening of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway makes the transportation of goods into Tibet much more convenient, which lowers the costs of people's living expenses, including rice, oil, flour and other foodstuffs. "

Jing also added that compared with highway transport, rail freight transport can help reduce the price of building materials, including steel, cement and timber, noting that there are many new towns along the railway in Nagqu.

Figures released by the Tibetan government show that its GDP surged from 25 billion yuan, about 3.8 billion US dollars, in 2005 to over 100 billion yuan in 2015, with an annual growth rate of over 10-percent.

For CRI, this is Li Jianhua reporting from Lhasa.