After more than four months of testing, China’s first suspended monorail train officially began operations at the Donghu High-tech Zone in Wuhan on September 26.
The train operates along a sightseeing route within the ecological corridor of Optics Valley, the abbreviation for the Donghu High-tech Zone in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The railway has a total length of 26.7 km, with the initial phase stretching 10.5 km and featuring six stations. Each station serves as a stop connected to the scenic views of the ecological corridor. With a 270-degree view provided by floor-to-ceiling windows, this suspended train is quickly becoming a new attraction for tourists in Wuhan.
Passengers waiting for the train to arrive.
A passenger shared: “I came to experience this novel train. The technology feels great, almost like something out of a science fiction movie. With a 270-degree view, I can see most of the landscapes along the ecological corridor here.”
Train using an automatic driving system.
Mr. Xiao Gongyu, Head of Planning and Design at the Wuhan Optics Valley Traffic Company, stated: “This is just the first phase of a tourism project that will integrate transportation modes across rivers, roads, the air, and underground in this valley in the future.”
According to him, initially, the train will operate in groups of two cars traveling in opposite directions. It will take about 30 minutes to cover all stations. In the future, based on passenger flow, the train cars may flexibly combine from 2 to 6 cars to meet passenger demands: “Once the entire line is operational, we will run more than a dozen cars. Currently, we are operating in groups of 2 cars, with a maximum capacity of over 220 people, a maximum speed of 60 km/h, and an average speed of about 30-40 km/h.”
Mr. Xiao Gongyu, Head of Planning and Design at the Wuhan Optics Valley Traffic Company.
Meanwhile, Mr. Wang Anjun, Director of Equipment Systems at the company, noted that this suspended train boasts high intelligence due to its fully automated, driverless functionality. The entire process of starting, stopping, and opening/closing is controlled automatically without manual intervention. The train operator only needs to respond in case of emergencies.
“As a new type of green and low-carbon rail transport, the suspended railway offers advantages such as fast construction speed, short building time, and low construction costs. Currently, we are using the suspended railway for the ecological tourism route. In the future, with low to medium traffic characteristics, the suspended railway could serve as the backbone transportation network for new urban areas or complement subways and elevated rails.”
Mr. Wang Anjun, Director of Equipment Systems at the Wuhan Optics Valley Traffic Company.
The research and construction of the suspended railway began in Germany. The world’s first suspended railway has been operational in Germany for over 100 years. China is the third country, after Germany and Japan, to master suspended railway technology. According to preliminary statistics, this type of railway is currently being built in several locations in China, including Chengdu and Jiangxi. An 800-meter long magnetic levitation suspended railway named Xingguo in Jiangxi Province has also been put into trial operation.
The suspended train has become a hot check-in spot in Wuhan.
With its many superior advantages, experts in China believe that the suspended railway has broad application prospects in the country as a connecting vehicle and an extension of high-capacity railway networks in major cities, or as a backbone public transport system in new urban areas or medium and small cities, as well as transit lines connecting airports, high-speed rail, urban railways, subways, and long-distance bus stations, or transport routes within large commercial centers, development zones, large factories, or expansive university campuses.
Suspended train in Wuhan, China.
This is the first commercial operation of an aerial railway train in China, setting a precedent for the commercial use of suspended monorail trains in the country.
