Monorail to ease Shanghai's congestion_美文_趣味英语-查字典英语网

Monorail to ease Shanghai's congestion

The system can now determine the train's location with much higher precision - within 3 centimeters - so that trains may run on a higher frequency and follow each other more closely.

Air Train International uses signaling control technology developed by German conglomerate Siemens. But the Chinese firm has the capability to manufacture 95 percent of key components.

Train speed is up to 50 km/h, and it can handle 15,000 passengers per hour.

With an ideal operating distance of less than 15 kilometers, Chen said the system is best positioned to blanket densely populated office buildings, where demands to reach the nearest subway stations are huge.

The new facility edges out alternative means of transportation in cost efficiency, Chen noted. It takes about 150 million yuan ($24.4 million) to build 1 kilometer of suspended monorail, which is about one quarter of the cost needed to build the same length of subway.

It takes just one week to construct 3 kilometers of the line. What's more, the technology is powered by electricity and a full-speed train is similar in loudness to a human voice.

Wang Mengshu, deputy chief engineer of the China Railway Tunnel Group and a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said the "floating train" serves as a perfect supplement to public transportation, notably in a city's busy area.

"It should be used as a part of the development of urban rail systems, in particular it should be used in combination with different modes of transport systems, say, big neighborhoods, airports and tourism attractions."