Transit builders now targeting civic routes
After securing their position as leaders in the world's high-speed train markets, Chinese train makers are now eyeing the urban transit manufacturing sector - pushing more low-cost, smart mass transportation models at home and abroad, competing with rivals in Germany, Canada and Japan.
In June, CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive Co, a subsidiary of China Railway Rolling Stock Corp, developed a "smart bus" - the Autonomous Rail Rapid Transit, or ART, which is about 30 meters long and equipped with sensors that can read the dimensions of roads and plan its route. It has a maximum speed of 70 kilometers per hour.
It is the world's first driverless rapid bus and was tested in Zhuzhou of Central China's Hunan province on Oct 23. The smart self-driving electric vehicle runs on a virtual rail system.
