China: Since February, the three-car trainsets with panoramic windows have been operating along the mountain route of 20.7 km in the vicinity of the city of Lijiang.
The rolling stock, which received a total of CNY 3 bln ($483 mln) of funding, was first unveiled in spring 2022. Designed for speeds of up to 70 km/h, the sightseeing train has a capacity of 351 passengers and is capable of running on 55‰ slopes and negotiating 50 m curves. The panoramic windows incorporate an electronic dimming feature, changing their transparency according to the sunshine intensity.
To accommodate the line’s sharp curves and steep gradients, the trains are equipped with innovative articulated powered bogies, as it has been previously noted by Zhou Li, the project director at CRRC’s Zhuzhou facility. The vehicles also boast a hybrid brake system which combines electric, hydraulic and magnetic braking allowing for the train’s smoother running downhill.
