The first air-rail vehicle using new energy recently rolled off the production line in Chengdu, Southwest China’s Sichuan Province, spreading the concept of smart travel. Designed to be driven by new energy, the project, Dayi Air-rail, sees a suspended rail train driven by a lithium battery power pack and focuses on giving a sense of the future and high-tech.
Different from the subway or light rail, the air-rail project combines tourist traffic and sightseeing and is used for connecting places with relatively small passenger flow. With a distance of about 11.5km and a designed speed of 80km per hour, the air-rail has four stations that connect several important tourism points.
Modelled after China’s national animal, a giant panda, each carriage has a maximum capacity of 120 passengers. With the transparent design of the carriage, glass windows from floor to ceiling provide more expansive views of the outside landscape for passengers. Construction of the new air-rail and suspended carriages is planned to be completed at the end of the year.
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