China’s ai???Silkwormai??i?? Tram Unveiled

Our not so friendly SkyTrain Lobby would have us believe that light-metro is being built in quantity in China.

Not so fast, as China’s huge city populations would demand large metro operations, not capacity constipated light-metro like our SkyTrain.

At the other end of the public transit scale, China is also building tramways or light rail and the new Silkworm tram has been unveiled.

Tram line ai???Silkwormai??i?? unveiled

By Ruby Zhang | June 15, 2016

THE new train that will be used on the T1 and T2 tram lines in suburban Songjiang District was unveiled at a local railway fair yesterday. The lines will be put into operation next year.

The new train, which is the first of its kind to be used in the city, has no step between the carriages and the platform, which will make it easier for passengers with disabilities or those carrying heavy luggage to get on and off.

The five-carriage train, which is 33 meters long and 2.65 meters wide, has been one of the highlights of the exhibition Rail + Metro China 2016 at the Shanghai New International Expo Center.

Because of its streamlined design, the yellow train has been dubbed ai???Silkworm.ai???

The train was entirely designed and manufactured in China, according to the manufacturer, Shanghai ALSTOM Transport Company.

ai???The localization will greatly lower the cost of the tramsai??i?? maintenance in future,ai??? said the company.