Abstract: Vegetation restoration along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway can not only improve soil physicochemical properties, but also plays an important role in the safety operation of the railway through the wind resistance and sand-fixing function of plants, with significant ecological and economic benefits. Through the investigation of soil and vegetation under five restoration modes along the Xining to Golmud section of Qinghai-Tibet Railway, we analyzed the effects of restoration modes on understory plant diversity and soil physicochemical properties. The results showed that the aboveground biomass and productivity of the plantations were different due to stand age and allocation. The highest productivity occurred in Populus simonii-Tamatix chinensisplantation (1.92 t·hm^-2·a^-1), followed by T. chinensisplantation (1.87 t·hm^-2·a^-1). All modes increased understory plant diversity, with eight species in theHippophaer hamnoides-Caragana korshinskii plantation and ten species in the T. chinensisplantation. The dominant species were different among different modes. Soil moisture increased in all the five restoration modes. The effects of shrub plantation on improving soil alkalinity were better than other modes. In the plantation of H. hamnoides-C. korshinskii and T. chinensis, the pH of surface soil (0-20 cm) decreased by 1.05 and 0.75, respectively. All the five restoration modes increased soil organic matter content (SOM), with more enhancement in surface than deep soil. The SOM in the T. chinensisplantation increased most obviously, with the surface SOM content of 12 g·kg^-1, which was nearly doubled compared with that before restoration. Our results provide theoretical basis for desertification control and the selection of restoration modes along the QinghaiTibet Railway.