Download Shanghai is likely to introduce the country's first suspended monorail train by 2017 to improve the city's worsening traffic congestion and pollution levels. Suburban Jiading district, as well as Changning district, which houses Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, are among the many prospective bidders to clinch the first deal with Air Train International, the manufacturer of the floating train system, according to its chairman Chen Changgui. An official surnamed Liu with the information office of Changning district confirmed the company is in talks with the Hongqiao central business district in west Shanghai. Many local governments are considering having the project installed, in a bid to contain growing traffic jams and bridge remote neighborhoods with the nearest public transportation facilities, Chen said during the first China (Shanghai) International Technology Fair, which kicked off on Wednesday. Apart from Shanghai, authorities from Tianjin and Luoyang, Henan province, are also serious about the plan to mitigate transportation tie-ups. "We are poised to have our first installation completed by 2017, and it's most likely to happen in Shanghai," Chen said. The floating trains, known as H-Bahn in German, are driverless passenger cars which are monitored from a control center. A movement inspector oversees the vehicle's position and status at all times. The first track connecting two campuses of Dortmund University in Germany has carried 5,000 passengers on a daily basis. Not a single accident has occurred since its maiden tour in 1984, according to the company website. |