Wuhan opens Optics Valley Skyrail monorail

China's first commercial sky train has opened to the public in central China's Wuhan City, Hubei Province. 

 

Passenger service of the 9.9km north–south automated suspended monorail linking Jiufengshan and Longquanshan began in late September. The line features interchanges with metro line 11 at Gaoxin Boulevard and with the Guanggu tramway line 2 at Gaoxin 2nd Road. 

 

There are six stations in total along to so-called ecological corridor serving the optical and electronics industries. The 24m long two-section Photon Skyrail cars built by CRRC Qingdao Sifang can each carry up to 200 passengers and run at up to 70km/h at a six-minute peak headway. There is also a transparent glass floor on the car so that passengers can see the city under their feet. 

 

The line was authorised in 2020 and it had been hoped to open in 2021, but the COVID pandemic delayed things. It is planned to extend the line to 26.7km.