Chongqing's monorail a pioneer in public transportation

CHONGQING — While tourists enjoy Liziba Station's Line 2 for the magical view of trains passing through a building in Chongqing, few know that the line is China's first monorail, western China's first rail transit line and the starting point of the city's prosperous rail industry.

In the last century, given construction costs and efficient space utilization, the mountainous city with rugged terrain, a dense urban fabric and narrow streets decided to import the straddle-type monorail from Japan to form the basis of its first rail transit system.

"At the time, it was not easy for us to design and build the monorail because it was such a new thing. We took Japan's monorail for reference, but when Chongqing put Line 2 into operation in 2004, we made 19 trains and imported only two," said Xiao Jingfei, executive deputy general manager of railway vehicle manufacturer, Chongqing CRRC.

Starting out as a beginner, Chongqing made remarkable progress in terms of monorail construction over the following years.

Carriages have been increased from four to eight, and most of the monorail components are now self-developed. As a result, the city has set a series of national standards for straddle-type monorails.

Chongqing's urban mass transit system is composed of 12 lines that run for a total of 478 kilometers, making the city a world-class rail transit metropolis.

It launched the country's first subway model adapted to mountainous terrain and its first rail route able to run on both AC and DC power, as well as an interconnected Communication-Based Train Control system that integrates signals from the different lines.

"Chongqing's innovative and adventurous spirit creates the ideal development environment for us and pushes us to research and develop new vehicles," said Xiao, adding that the company's annual output rose to 2.1 billion yuan ($312 million) last year from 10 million yuan when it was established in 2007.

UniTTEC, a company devoted to making rail-transit signal systems, participated in a program to improve connectivity of the city's CBTC system by integrating the signals from different lines.

"Chongqing pioneered the breaking of technical barriers between different rail transit signal suppliers, demonstrating that its rail transit system is heading toward a more intelligent future. This was also a major factor behind our decision to settle in Chongqing last April," said Gu Yixin, general manager of UniTTEC Chongqing.

"Due to Chongqing's terrain, there is huge space for us to develop multiple rail transit models and eco-friendly, intelligent and low-carbon power supply systems," said Pan Gaofeng, general manager of Chongqing CRRC Times Electric Technology, which joined the fray in March 2021 and made 320 million yuan that year alone.

Chongqing's industrial equipment chain in the rail transit sector now encompasses 80 companies ranging from design to construction whose total output last year hit 10 billion yuan, according to the Chongqing City Transportation Development & Investment Group.

More opportunities still await thanks to the city's innovation-oriented development and pioneering spirit, according to He Xihe, chief expert at the Chongqing Rail Transit Industrial Investment Company.

"Just take the monorail as an example. It has broad prospects for application whether abroad or in third-tier or fourth-tier cities in China," He added.

By 2025, the city's rail transit system — both lines in operation and those under construction — is projected to exceed 1,000 km, and daily average passenger traffic in major urban districts will exceed 6 million travelers, accounting for more than half of the city's public transportation.

Xinhua