Global Courant
BEIJING – China’s first commercial suspended monorail line opened to the public on Tuesday in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, offering commuters the surreal experience of driving a futuristic vehicle in a science fiction film.
Local resident Li Zhengying, who took the train on Wednesday, called her trip “extremely cool” and said she would take a ride with her family next time. “The view from the train carriage was beautiful. It was a fun ride,” Ms Li added.
The operational first phase of the project will cover a total distance of 10.5km across six stations in China’s Optics Valley, a national innovation demonstration zone in Wuhan, said Optics Valley Traffic Company, the line’s operator.
The maximum speed of the monorail train is 60 km/h and the two carriages have a passenger capacity of 220 people. The transparent glass floor offers commuters an aerial view of the city.
The line runs daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. with a train departing every 10 minutes. It is fully automated and requires no human intervention unless there is an emergency.
Head of the monorail’s equipment system division, Wang Anjun, said the number of passengers on the first two days exceeded Optics Valley’s expectations. The railway company had to reduce the train departure interval to eight minutes to clear the crowds. The interval will be further shortened to cope with the large numbers of tourists expected during the National Day on October 1.
A monthly ticket for unlimited rides costs 120 yuan (S$22). One-time and one-day tickets cost 30 yuan each until October 6, the end of the National Day holiday. The rates for one-day and one-off tickets after the holidays are not yet known.
Chief designer Wang Honggang of China Railway Fourth Survey and Design Institute Group, one of the construction companies involved in the project, said the monorail route is very scenic as it connects parks, lakes and hills in the Optics Valley.
Railway company CRRC Qingdao Sifang’s senior designer Wang Kecheng said the monorail uses multiple shock absorbers to increase the stability of the train cars and provide passengers with a smoother ride.
The trainsets are made of lightweight aluminum alloy to reduce weight and feature a flywheel energy storage system, which converts electrical energy into kinetic energy during braking, the senior designer said.
Commuter Huang Yingru said she took her son from Shenzhen, Guangdong province, to Wuhan for a ride on the monorail during the summer test runs.
“My son had seen videos of the suspended train online and wanted to take a ride. He was so excited and happy the whole trip, especially because he could see the city through the glass floor. It was a great experience for both of us,” she added. CHINA DAILY/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
