In the Chinese city of Sichuan, a new type of public transport has begun to operate - an autonomous trackless train. This is, in fact, a very roomy electric bus on pneumatic tires. It is equipped with sensors that read out the special markings on the roads - "virtual rails", assess the situation and plot the route.
A futuristic train that runs on virtual tracks opened its doors to passengers for the first time in Sichuan, China. The ART T1 train controls the dimensions of the road and builds its own route without being tied to physical tracks.
The project took two years to complete. The construction of a virtual railway with a length of 17.7 km cost 1.128 billion yuan (approximately 10 billion rubles).
It is assumed that the new mode of transport will be used by 10,000 people per day, and after the expansion of the route to the neighboring high-speed railway - 25,000 people per day.
The maximum speed of such a train is 70 km / h, and the passenger capacity is 300 people. The train's sensor system makes it possible to do without the driver. All routes are generated automatically. However, for safety reasons and in case of unforeseen situations, the train driver is still present on the train.
Promotional video:
The width of the carriageway is 3.75 meters and is indicated by dotted line markings drawn on the road.
According to the developers, a virtual rail system is much cheaper to build than a tram or metro system. It is estimated that the construction of one kilometer of a tram line in China costs 150-200 million yuan (1.5-2 billion rubles), and replacing a tram with a trackless train will reduce these figures by 2-3 times.