BEIJING - The Chinese goverment plans to extend the first railway to the Tibetan capital of Lhasa, which opened last month, to the region's second-biggest city, Xigaze, the Xinhua News Agency said Thursday.

The line to Xigaze will extend the railway by some 270 kilometers (170 miles) and should be completed within three years, Xinhua said, citing a government official.

"The railway will offer great opportunities for the social and economic development of Xigaze," Yu Yungui, executive vice commissioner of the Administrative Office of Xigaze prefecture, was quoted as saying at a news conference.

The Tibet railway opened July 1, linking the Himalayan region to the rest of China for the first time. It crosses some of the world's highest terrain.

Xigaze prefecture borders India, Nepal and Bhutan.