CHINA: The first route of a planned 98 km seven line tram network in Jiaxing was opened on June 25, operated using a fleet of trams fitted with supercapacitors for catenary-free operation.
Route T1 runs 10·6 km from Jiaxing Nan high speed rail station to the junction of Fanggong and Binhe roads, southeast of the original main line station. There are 11 stops, and a depot at Qingfenglu.
Services are operated by the Shenjia joint venture of Jiaxing Rail Co and the Keolis Shanghai JV of Keolis (49%) and Shanghai Shentong Metro Group (51%).
CRRC Changchun is supplying a total of 20 trams for T1, of which 11 have been delivered. Branded as Nanhu, the 100% low-floor five-section cars are 34·8 m long, with an entrance height of 350 mm, 60 seats and a capacity of 368 passengers.
The vehicles have a maximum speed of 70 km/h and provide an average commercial speed of 23 km/h. They are powered by high energy supercapacitors which offer a range of 2 to 3 km between charges. These can be topped up at the intermediate stops in 15 to 30 sec, while a full charge at the termini takes around 4 min.
The trams are equipped with lidar and infrared obstacle detection equipment, as well as systems for passenger counting system, driver behaviour analysis and fare evasion monitoring.
Route T1 is being extended 5 km westwards from Jiaxing station to the old town, where it will interchange at Pingshan with the future route T2. This will run 1·8 km north–south across the old town from Yuehenan to Huanchengnanlu, serving five stops. A 20 km third line is expected to open in 2023.
