Shanghai may introduce transparent hanging trains

A model of the suspension railway with transparent hanging trains is displayed at he 2014 China International Industry Fair on Tuesday in Shanghai. (Photo: eastday.com)

(ECNS) – Shanghai may become equipped with a new means of transportation – a suspension railway with transparent hanging trains, according to eastday.com.

A model of the sky train was displayed at the 2014 China International Industry Fair on Tuesday.

The railway is an automatic suspended monorail system driven by electricity, according to an unnamed director with Shanghai Air Rail Technology Co Ltd. Suspended from a fixed track and 5 meters from the ground, the train can provide an alternative to the traffic gridlock that clogs streets, he said.

It runs at 50 kilometers per hour, he added, and it produces no exhaust and little noise pollution.

Construction of one kilometer of the suspended monorail costs about 12 million yuan to build, one fifth of the current subway rail.

A few districts and CBDs in Shanghai are studying the feasibility of the trains. Analysts said that if the project is approved, the suspension railway could be a bridge linking CBDs and would help boost the city's tourism.

Hanging trains have been seen in German cities already. In Dusseldorf, a suspension railway linking the city's railway station and airport was put into use in 2002.