The world’s first battery-powered sky train rolled into full operation in China's Chengdu on Thursday. Traveling on overhead aerial rails, sky train is only running on a test track just under a mile long at the moment, however, scientists and experts plan to run the train for ten of thousands of miles of tests to identify any safety and quality issues before the sky train actually serves any human passengers.
The sky train runs at nearly 40 miles per hour and can reach a maximum speed of nearly 50 miles per hour.Compared to German and Japanese sky trains, which commonly use high-voltage electricty to generate power, the Chengdu test train uses giant lithium batteries. Experts will be closely examining the power system in the hope that ideas for new energy and technology standards can be developed.
The Chengdu train is a one of a kind for another reason as well. In case you're wondering, the white and black color is supposed to resemble a panda bear.
